The Beat of My Heart
by xDreamkeeperx
Summary: Sora and Roxas are vampires, and dangerous ones at that. When Sora sees Nikki, his heart pounds furiously, and he begins to fall in love with her. But a vampire can't love a human, so he makes a deal with Naminè to make sure he can turn human. NO FLAMES
1. And Their Eyes Met

**Kay, so since I've just finished the anime "Karin" and I'm gonna read "Twlight" and "New Moon" soon, I'm all vampire-happy. So I came up with this.**

**Summary: Sora and Roxas are vampires, and dangerous ones at that. When Sora sees Nikki, his heart begins to pound furiously, and he begins to fall in love with her. But a vampire cannot love a human, so he makes a deal with Naminè to make sure he can turn human. However, there are conditions...**

**Yeahhhh no flames.**

**NO FLAMES. Really.**

* * *

His heart was beating furiously, his breathing was heavy. Beads of sweat slowly traveled down his forehead. His hands were balled into tight fists. He tried to make his breathing lighter, but it was no use. She was still around him.

Her medium length brown hair was tied up in two loose ponytails and rested over her shoulders lightly. Her dark brown eyes were shining with excitement as she stood chatting with her friends in front of Claire's Accessories. Her left hand was placed casually on her hips. Her right thumb was jammed in her pocket, and she had her weight shifted on her right leg. It was everything about her, the jeans and light pink short sleeved shirt she was wearing, her hair shining in the light, her bright smile, that made his heart beat faster and his senses go wild.

"Sora."

The familiar voice calling his name made him stop and look away from her. He turned to see his brother, Roxas, staring at the group of girls Sora had been watching earlier. Roxas's expression was a blank one, his crystal blue eyes not moving away from the group.

"What are you doing?" Roxas asked Sora, his eyes still locked on the other figures a few feet away from them.

"Her. She's..." Sora tried to bring the words to life, but they remained caught in his throat.

"Nikki."

"What?"

"That's her name. What's so special about her, Sora?" Roxas asked.

Sora ignored the question. "How do you know her name?" he questioned, looking at the blonde standing next to him.

"She's in our school," Roxas answered impatiently. "What's so special about her?"

The brunette blinked a couple of times, trying to get his heart to stop racing. He wanted to answer his brother, but though he tried, the words wouldn't form. The words would barely even form in his mind. "I..."

Roxas waited for the reply, but it didn't come to him. "I see then." He turned and walked away slowly, losing himself in the mall crowd around him.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"No way, he's not that great," Nikki said, shaking her head.

"What are you talking about? He's cute!" Brenda laughed.

"No, I think JT's the cutest. Spinner's...eh, not that great, like I said."

"Well enough about them. What about guys in our school?" Shannon asked, hands on her hips.

Brenda immediatley went into a fit of giggles. Nikki laughed and flipped a ponytail over her shoulder. "I see Brenda's already got someone on her mind."

The other girl sighed and calmed down, casually twidling her fingers. "Well...there's this guy..."

"And his name...?" Shannon pushed along.

"Roxas."

"That blonde boy?" Nikki asked. "The quiet one?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"He's cute, I guess."

"Omigosh!"

Nikki jumped at Brenda's sudden outburst. "What is it?" she asked, immediatly thinking that something was wrong.

"I just saw him!" Brenda's eyes were clouded with dreaminess now as she looked into the mall crowd. "Look!" She turned Nikki to look in the direction she was looking. Nikki didn't see him, but she did see someone else.

He had brown hair, spiked up, basically defying all gravity. He wore a simple pair of jeans and a black shirt. He wasn't smiling, only stared into space, or that's what it seemed like he was doing. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts, his eyes clouded over.

His eyes.

When her dark brown eyes met with his sapphire blue eyes, she felt a rush, a chill going down her spine that made her gasp slightly. He seemed to have a reaction as well, since he blinked twice and quickly looked away shyly, then whirled around and walked out of her sight.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sora sighed as he sat in his living room later that day. The couch beneath him was becoming uncomfortable, and all he could think of was that girl he had seen at the mall earlier. What was her name? Nikki? Yes, that was her name.

Roxas sat next to him, calmly reading his book and trying not to pay attention to Sora, who was, of course, fidgeting. Riku was sitting in the chair next to the couch, smirking at Sora.

"So you can't stop thinking about her now?" Riku questioned, referring to Nikki.

Riku was Sora's best friend, and the only human that knew he and Roxas were vampires. He had been with Sora since they were young kids, and poked fun at Sora for being so shy. He had also been with the brunette the first time he bit someone, and had been quiet about it, knowing that it would happen anyway. He had stuck with Sora through the good times and the bad, and he also understood just what kind of vampires Sora and Roxas were, dangerous as they may be...

"No, I can't get her out of my mind," the brunette answered, obviously frustrated as he clenched his fists tightly.

Roxas sighed as his eyes read over the small printed words on the page in his hands. He and Sora were a different kind of vampires, different than others indeed. The two of them had a blood preference when it came to biting people- they both went for people who were unhappy. If they were around someone who was unhappy, their hearts would beat faster and faster until they bit the person. The detail that set them apart from other people of their kind was that if they bit someone, the victim would die. This led Sora to a fear of being himself. Roxas, however, first sunk his teeth into someone's flesh when he was ten, the first time he felt that horrible strong urge to bite them. His brother, though had only been biting people for two years now, having started at the age of thirteen.

"So, what was she doing? Sulking in a corner? Crying like a baby?" Riku questioned his best friend, remembering his blood preference.

"She was," Sora began, trying to remember what she had been doing. "She was talking to two other girls. She didn't look upset. She was really happy by the looks of it. But my heart started pounding really hard. It almost sounded like the way Axel was pounding on the door of the classroom the time that the kids locked him inside in elementary school."

Roxas looked up from his book at this point. "Your heart...was beating like that while she was happy?"

"Yes."

Roxas shook his head. He didn't understand; it was impossible. How could he...?

"Well there's only one thing for you to do now, Sora," Riku informed his friend.

Sora looked up at the silver haired teen watching him. "What's that?"

"Talk to her."


	2. First Encounters

**-gets shot- Those who know me know I HATE KAIRI. But of course, in my fanfics she's my friend. Why? I don't know. I always thought Naminè was like awesome, so why not be nice to Kairi, too? Well anyway, there's a reason why she's in this fic, trust me. **

**Anyway, I forgot to mention in the last chapter, can anybody figure out what Brenda, Shannon and I were talking about in the mall? You know, "Oh, Spinner's alright, but JT's cuter" that stuff. I wanna see who'll be the first to figure it out.**

**And yeah, I forgot it in the last chappie, so here's the disclaimer:**

**I DON'T OWN KINGDOM HEARTS OR THE KH CHARACTERS, EITHER. I don't own Brenda and Shannon, either XD They own themselves, and I own myself, too **

**NO FLAMES**

* * *

The intense heat of the sun beat down on Nikki's face as she stepped out of the comfort of the shade under a tree to the sunlight that was illuminating the park. The breeze around her gently blew her pink and black skirt. It gently and playfull tugged at her light pink tanktop and swirled through her hair, which was now neatly tied up in a high ponytail. She kept one hand on the trunk of the tree, almost as if it was her lifesaver, then walked further into the sunlight slowly.

The park wasn't all that full that day. There were a few sweaty teenage boys playing basketball on the courts. Small children with their parents squealed as they blew thousands of tiny bubbles, eagerly reaching in the air to pop them. Sounds of small feet hitting the concrete was heard lightly as a few little girls played hopscotch in another part of the park. Yells of younger boys were heard as they played tag, laughing and screaming out "You're It!"

Nikki's eyes scanned the area for Shannon, Brenda and Kairi, who she was supposed to meet up with. When she didn't see them, she took her sparkly pink cell phone out of her pocket dialing Brenda's number rapidly. The sound of the low ringing was in her ears now, and she finally heard Brenda's voice on the other side. "Hello?" she brightly answered.

"Hey, Brendy," Nikki said with a smile. "Where are you and Shanny-Bananny?"

Brenda giggled on the other side, probably laughing at something she was seeing. "Uh, Shannon and I are sitting on the benches by the water fountain."

"Oh okay," Nikki sighed, looking around for the familiar sight of water spewing gracefully out of the water fountain. "Is Kairi there yet?"

"No, she's not."

"Okay, well, see you there."

Spotting the water fountain, she began to walk toward it, the grass tickling her toes through her sandals. Her eyes scanned the benches for her friends when suddenly _WHAM! _Someone had knocked into her, the force sending them tumbling into the grass.

"Ow!" Nikki mumbled softly, feeling the grass beneath her and someone on top of her. Opening her eyes, she saw crystal blue eyes staring down at her. It was the boy she had seen at the mall, and his face was quickly turning red.

"Oh, s-sorry!" he quickly apologized. "I should have watched where I was running. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," she answered softly. She would have raised her voice but she was too busy staring into his eyes. They were amazing...and he sure was cute...

"Well, I'm Sora," he informed her, his voice gentler and less worry-filled.

"I'm Nikki."

"Nice to meet you, Nikki, even if it _was _like this." He laughed. "Talk about a first impression."

She giggled. "Yeah, but one I won't forget. It's nice to meet you, too." Then she paused. "Um, Sora...can you maybe...get off of me, please?"

Blushing and realizing where he was, Sora stood up and held out his hand to help her up. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay." Nikki looked him over now that he was standing and in full view, rather than just his face. Once again, he was wearing jeans, this time a blue shirt to go with it. "Hey, I think I've seen you around before...I think you may go to my school."

Sora nodded, seemingly happy that she would recognize him. "Yeah, my brother and I go to your school."

"Hmm," Nikki murmered, studying him closely. "You...you have a brother, don't you? Roxas?"

He looked sad for a spilt second, or maybe it was just her imagination. "Yeah, he's my brother," he replied in a hushed tone.

"People tell me to stay away from him."

"Well, you should."

"Why is that?"

Sora didn't answer, he just kept his eyes glued to his feet. Nikki sighed.

"It's okay if you don't want to answer," she told him sweetly. "Listen, I need to meet up with my friends, but maybe we can hang out sometime? Summer vacation and all..."

His emotions seemed to changed right away as he looked up happily, a smile plastered on his face. "Yeah, that sounds cool."

"Awesome. So I'll...see you later, I guess," she called as she began to walk towards her friends.

"Yeah, see you." Sora waved at her, smiling as she walked away.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Was that Roxas's brother you were talking to?" Brenda called out to Nikki as she approached her.

Nikki nodded and smiled as she now jogged over to her friends. She could see that Kairi had arrived. She was for once, wearing a pair of jeans and a pink and yellow striped shirt. Her hair was tied into two ponytails. This was a new sight for the brunette.

"You mean Sora?" Kairi questioned, and earned a nod from the other girl. "Oh," was all she could manage to say.

"I think he's pretty cute," Nikki said with a giggle and a dreamy sigh as she sat down.

"Oh, do you really?" Shannon said in a slightly taunting way.

Brenda slapped Nikki on the back playfully. "Good going. Snag the cute one, and I get his brother!"

Nikki rolled her eyes as she put her hand on Brenda's shoulder. "Don't push it."

Kairi's mind was blanking out as she heard the other three girls laughing and joking about Nikki and Sora. She could only look away to hide her forming tears. Of course, she liked Sora, she had for a while now, but she never told anyone. The only person that knew about her little crush was the tiny pink diary she kept under her mattress at home, words of confusion scribbled across the off-white paper. Now here was her friend, giggling and joking about how cute she thought he was, talking so openly about it, while she sat on the cold, hard park bench, suffering from repressed feelings bottled up inside of her.

"Kai?"

Nikki's voice drilled through her mind until she finally snapped back to reality. "Uh, yeah?"

"Are you okay, Kairi?"

Kairi wrapped her hand around one of her ponytails, twirling a few strands of red hair with her finger. "Uh huh!" She tried her best to put on a smile, but she could feel the fake of it on her face, like the fake smiles on the Barbie dolls she used to play with. Even if the words that came out of her mouth were convincing the other girls, she knew that she was in fact, not fine at all. She was a wreck of thoughts.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You're going to hang out with her? That's great, Sora!"

It was sunset, and Sora and Riku were enjoying slushies on the benches near the basketball courts. Roxas sat next to them, quietly having a slushie as well.

"That's stupid," Roxas growled, regarding Riku's statement.

"No, it's not!" Sora defended through the blue lips he had obtained from the slushie. "I like her, Roxas. I really do."

"You just met her."

"There's something about her, Roxas, there really is."

Roxas shook his head, remaining emotionless. "It really is stupid, Sora, for you to be around a human like that. It's even more pointless to develop feelings for her."

"Why? Why can't I?" Sora demanded, now lowering the slushie from his mouth.

His blonde brother scoffed and looked away. "You're a vampire."

"So? You and I are different, Roxas. We can go out in sunlight, don't forget that."

"We kill, Sora. Don't forget that."

Riku stayed still in his seat. He didn't want to interrupt the two brothers, knowing that Roxas would of course get upset. He clutched the slushie in his hands and silently listened to his two friends.

Sora shook his head confidently. "I don't care what you say, Roxas," he told him as he got up and walked away.


	3. A Little Closer

**Okay...so my laptop charger busted on me, which really sucks cuz I wanted to finish watching "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" before school starts. Who knows, maybe I will...but in the meantime I'm on my great uncle's computer in a hot sweaty attic and hoping that my other uncle will let me use his downstairs air-conditioned room's computer. Anyway...on with chapter 3.**

**OH YEAH! And Stephanie and I were thinking about making this into a movie. We'd like change the names and stuff and make a movie out of it...soooo yeah. Tell me what you think.**

**No flames, as usual.**

**And I don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, you'd know. Oh, you would SO know.**

* * *

"Pretty Girl" by Sugarcult filled Sora's head as he listened to the song loudly on his iPod. This was the only was to get Nikki out of his mind. He had already called her earlier to ask her to go to the park with him the next day at three in the afternoon. Luckily for him, she had said yes. No all he to do was train his mind to not think about her all the time so that he wouldn't stumble for words around her like a bumbling idiot. 

Sighing, Sora rolled over in his comfortable bed, his one hand holding the iPod, the other clutching the bed sheets to keep them from slipping off of his body. '_Does she like me?' _he thought to himself sadly and with slight worry. '_No, no, no, Sora, pull it together. You've got to stop thinking about her or you'll lose your mind. Just get some sleep...'_

Meanwhile, in Roxas's room, there was no rest going on, either. He tossed and turned in bed, thinking about Sora's stupidity. Couldn't he understand that he and Nikki were two different people, that it would never work out because of the circumstances? If only Riku would talk to Sora, because he would of course listen to his best friend, but Riku was probably supporting the brunette.

Roxas rolled his eyes as he climbed into bed. Would anybody _ever _listen to him?

* * *

"Oh my gatos, Nikki-chan, you have a date!" Brenda squealed that night, sitting next to Shannon on Nikki's bed after she told them about Sora's call. She jumped up and ran over to Nikki excitedly. "We have to do your hair!" 

"And I'll take care of the clothes!" Shannon shouted, running to the closet and digging through shirts, skirts and jeans.

"It's not a date," Nikki tried to assure them.

"But Nikki-chan," Brenda objected. "Life's what you make it-"

"So let's make it rock!" Shannon cut in from under a colorful pile of clothes.

The brunette blinked. "Isn't that a Hannah Montana song?"

"It doesn't matter," Brenda said, taking a shirt from Shannon's pile and holding it up to her friend. "You have to look great for him."

From somewhere underneath the small pile of clothing, Shannon's head popped up, smiling. "Yeah!"

* * *

The park wasn't as full as the last time she had been there, but that didn't matter to Nikki, because as soon as she saw Sora her heart leaped up into the air. There he was, sitting on a bench near the playground section. She smiled, tugged at her shirt to make sure it looked okay, and made her way over. 

When he saw her, he flashed the best and nicest smile he could, careful not to show his vampire teeth, which would reveal his secret or make her think he was some kind of wacko. He stood up and said "Hi" and she neared.

"Hey, Sora," she greeted, trying not to blush.

As he looked at her it was becoming more difficult not to smile more and more. She really did look pretty that day...

"Sora? Nikki? What are you two doing here?" a voice cut in.

Nikki whirled around to see one of her other best friends, Stephanie, standing behind them. Her light brown hair seemed to be getting lighter under the sun, turning back to it's blonde color. She had one hand on her hip and the other was holding her sidekick phone, and she had a kick-ass grin on her face, one that made Nikki's stomach turn. '_Oh no...this can't be good._'

Sure, she loved Stephanie to death, but when it came to setting Nikki up on dates she was always ready for something crazy.

"Well well well...what have we here?" Stephanie spoke slowly, walking over to them slyly. "A...date, perhaps?"

Sora's face went red immediatly, and his heart began pounding once more. '_Dammit...what the hell is wrong with me? This isn't supposed to happen, neither of them are unhappy...'_

"N-no," he managed to say. "It's just...us hanging out."

Nikki felt a piece of her heart chip off and fall into some black abyss somewhere in her body. Sure, she had objected to it being a date with Brenda and Shannon, but somehow she wanted it to be more than friends just hanging out.

"Oh, I see. So then...you wouldn't mind letting me tag along, now would you?" Stephanie giggled, resting her elbow on Nikki's shoulder, since Nikki was shorter than she was.

"Uh, no," the brunette answered, diverting her eyes to Sora, who didn't look like he was ready to protest.

"Good, goooooooood." The way the blonde stretched out the word 'good' made Sora and Nikki's hearts leap in worry. "So let's go to the swings then."

Both Sora and the other girl were then swept away by the smirking blonde, and led to the swings, where there were two empty ones. Stephanie made sure to take one and begin pumping her legs to make the swing rise and fall, like a giant pendulum.

"Well, go on," she teased. "Swing."

"But there's only one swing here," Nikki called out.

Sora grabbed her by the wrist gently and sat her down on the swing. "I'll push yours, then."

The smaller girl smiled and said, "Okay, if you want to..."

She felt his hands gently pushing her on the back, and the swing moved foward, only to fall back where he would push again, and this time, she went higher. The ground was getting smaller to her and she swung, and as she raised her eyes she could see the sky above her. The clouds looked fluffy and inviting, and for a second she wished she could fly up there, fly into the clouds...maybe with him...

"Enjoying yourself?" Stephanie called from the other swing in a sly tone, breaking into her friend's daydreams.

"Huh? Oh, uh...yeah." She glanced back at Sora, who was smiling as he pushed her. He didn't seem to mind. "I really am."

* * *

"I'm sorry...about Stephanie," Nikki apologized that night as Sora walked her to her door. The crickets were chriping and the stars were out and shining brightly that night. 

"It's fine," he assured. "After all...it was...hanging out, right?"

_'Oh God! Did I just make it sound like a date?'_ she thought, her eyes going wide.

Brenda and Shannon were peering out the window from behind the curtain. giggling and complaining as they saw Nikki and Sora talking outside the door.

"Shannon, move your foot!"

"You're in my way!"

"I wouldn't be if you would just move your foot!"

"Wait wait wait! I think she's coming inside now."

Sora gave her a quick hug goodbye (which to her was like heaven) and she opened the door as Shannon and Brenda rapidly tried to make themselves look as if they had been hanging around all day.

"Guys?" Nikki said. "I'm back."

"Oh?" Shannon said calmly from behind a magazine, which she didn't realize she was holding upside down. "How was it?"

"Uh, well we had fun. Steph showed up though."

Brenda looked up from the book she was reading. "Did she really? Hmm...that can't be too good, can it?"

Nikki squinted her eyes at them. "No...it can't...well, I'm going to bed." She started to make her way up the stairs. "By the way, Shannie, I usually hold my magazines right-side-up."

Shannon fumbled to turn the magazine the right way as the other girl made her way upstairs.

"Oh and you shouldn't leave the curtains half-hanging on the lamp like that," Nikki called over her shoulder. "If you're going to spy on me, at least do it right."

The door to her room shut.

"Baka," Brenda mumbled. "We should have hid in the bushes..."

* * *

"I'm home!" Sora called cheerfully as he stepped through the front door. It wouldn't matter anyway, Roxas was probably reading in his room. He crossed the living room and turned the corner into the hallway, only to come face to face with his brother. 

"AH! Roxas-nii-chan! Don't do that! You scared me half to death!" Sora shouted, jumping up.

Roxas shook his head and let his brother through. "You're an idiot and you shouldn't be with that girl."

Sora walked past the blonde, trying to ignore what he said. "Whatever, Rox, I'm going to be in my room."

"When you bite her," Roxas mumbled in a low tone, "And she's gone for good, don't come whining to me to fix your weak, broken heart."

The brunette stopped in his tracks and turned around, but Roxas was already in his room with the door shut tight.


	4. Shattered Memories

**Okie dokie, MAJOR thanks to Panic! at the Disco. Why, you ask? Because today Stephanie and I took a trial run to our new high school, you know, to see how long it would take to get there and practicing our route in general. And yeah while we were waiting for the bus to take the ride back home, I played "Lying is the Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking her Clothes Off" and it gave me the inspiration. So really, listen to it and think of Roxas when you do XD**

* * *

"So, Brenda," Stephanie said slyly over the phone. "Nikki and Sora have been getting pretty..._close _this past week, huh?" 

"Yeah," Brenda answered, twirling the phone cord around her index finger, and not thinking much of Stephanie's tone of voice. "I think she's falling for him, Steph-chan. She's never been like this before."

"But of course, she hasn't said it yet, has she?"

"Well, no, but how did you know?"

Stephanie scoffed. "She'll never admit that she's in love with somebody...unless we could force her..."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The sound of the television was in the room as Roxas sat on the couch quietly, barely paying attention to what was on. Sora was out with Nikki again, and it pissed him off to no end that they were spending so much time together. Of course, Sora thought it was because of the vampires and humans deal, but it wasn't just that. There was more to the story that his brother never realized...

_"Well...what do you say? Do you want to...go out with me?" the young blonde had asked quietly, shuffling his feet nervously._

_She had nodded, smiling and giggling. "Sure, Roxas, I'd love to."_

_It was months later, months of lies, distractions and secrets, just to keep a certain brunette boy from knowing about a certain brunette girl. Kisses and hugs, hands being held and arms wrapped around waists, all unknown to Sora. Roxas's hot breath on her neck made to tease her (which worked very well) before Sora stepped into the room and all was calm again, and she was once again out of sight..._

_Then that day, where she saw, she saw him bite that young boy, and the blood dripping down his fangs. She had cried, she had sobbed hysterically, throwing herself on the floor in a fit at the sight before her eyes..._

_And he had to erase her memory of those months they had spent together, and he knew that there was no way that humans and vampires could coexist._

"He'd better take care of her," Roxas mumbled, staring blankly at the television screen. "She'll be out of your arms soon, I'll make sure of it."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

That Saturday had been hot, more than ever before during that summer, and Nikki struggled to find something to wear before setting with a blue tank top and a darker blue skirt. Her straight her had to be tied up in a high ponytail that swished as she walked to prevent her hair from sticking to the back of her neck.

When the doorbell rang, she had to sulk over to the door before opening it to see her best friend standing there, with a huge grin on her face.

"Hey, betch," she greeted, using the word heard on the song "Shoes" by Kelly. "We need to...talk."

Barely paying attention due to the heat, she opened the door further. "Sure, Steph, come on inside."

The blonde made her way to the couch and made herself comfortable as the brunette sat down next to her.

"So," Stephanie began. "You and Sora...what's up with you two?"

"Uh, n-nothing," Nikki stuttered at the unexpected question.

"You love him, don't you?"

Both of the girls looked up to see Shannon walking into the room. She had a small boombox in her hands.

"You love him," Shannon repeated. "The way you look at him..."

"And I've never seen you so happy," Brenda cut in, walking into the room. "You're bright and cheery all the time."

"And you're blushing now," Stephanie added.

"I'm not in love with him," Nikki sighed.

Stephanie rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Shannon, play the song."

Shannon pressed a button on the boombox and "I Won't Say I'm In Love" by the Cheetah Girls began playing. Nikki almost screamed as the girls started singing to her.

"This isn't funny!" she screamed over the music. "I get it, I get it! But I **don't** love him!"

Of course, she would continue to deny it. Why wouldn't she after what had happened everytime? Take Kevin for example...

_"I think I like him...but how can that be? The boy with the bushy hair who's like a brother to me? Kevin? There's no way..." she had told Stephanie that day. And Stephanie only smiled and said "Well, in time...maybe he'll like you back."_

_The months passed, dragging on slowly and all she could do was watch him as he went along with his life. Of course, she wasn't a part of it. She was only the random girl on the side who was a stranger to him. And all she could do was daydream, thinking about how they could be together...if he liked her. _

_After a long time of tears and worry and wondering, the day came where she was sitting at lunch and her friend Jean wanted to know who the boy was who Nikki was falling in love with. Having known Jean for years then, she told her it was Kevin, thinking she'd understand. She was wrong._

_Jean pranced up and out of her seat and told Kevin of Nikki's feelings, leaving the brunette devastated and in shock that her friend would do such a thing. And when Kevin looked away without saying anything, as if to brush it off as insignificant and worthless, she felt herself being thrown deeper into hell._

_After more time passed of blurry school days and time wasting Saturdays where he was on her mind like grase to a frying pan, there was one particular day at school where she sat with her friends Alexandra and Catherine in the cafeteria. Their class had the lunch table next to boys bathroom, which Kevin entered a lot because of the amount of water he drank a day, which was about enough to feed a herd of buffalos. Nikki always saw him out of the corner of her eye, but never looked for fear that he'd scowl and look away._

_As the three girls talked and laughed and joked and chatted about the upcoming end of the school year, only a few days away, the unexpected happened. Kevin came out of the bathroom and marched over to the cafeteria table, yelling at her. She was in shock, wondering what she had done for him to burst out at her. After all, she was only talking to her friends. Catherine immediatley jumped up to tell Kevin something, and Alexandra was yelling for him to back off, but he only screamed more. Nikki could only hear Alex's protests and Catherine's questions, and nothing of what Kevin was saying._

_However, she did hear the last nine words he said to her before he turned and left:_

_"I don't like you, Nicole, and I NEVER WILL!"_

_Alex and Catherine had quieted down and looked at her sadly and sympatheticly, but she only faked a smile, laughing and saying, "Jeez, what's HIS problem? PMS much? I guess we know what he went into the bathroom for."_

_The girls had laughed along and agreed that he was only being an asshole, but she felt her heart rip in two, and from them on tried to promise herself to never, and she meant NEVER fall in love with anyone again, having convinced herself that nobody could ever love her, and that it would only bring heartbreak to her once more. _

"Guys," Nikki said with a sigh and turning off the music. "Really. I don't love him. Can we just leave it?"

She walked upstairs slowly and tried her best not to think of Sora, the bright cheery boy who her heart was going insane for.

"But...Nikki-chan..." Brenda began before her voice trailed off.

Stephanie shook her head as she looked at her best friend walking away sadly. _I think I know what's wrong..._

_

* * *

_

**Okay, so that chapter's there for you guys to all know what's going on behind the scenes... -shifty eyes-**

**Yeah. And the whole thing about Kevin and I? Total truth. Really. Alex and Catherine and Jean and Kevin, all there, real events, and yes, it was real heartbreak. And I've never told anybody what those words he said to me were, because it hurt to think about it. Lucky readers. Now you know.**

**Really. I had promised myself not to love anymore, and then came Juan... -sigh- Maybe when I start high school in a few days I'll come to my senses with guys, so I don't end with anybody before like -shudders- Juan.**

**Though...the boy I liked in the third grade through fifth grade who I never saw again and the last thing I told him was that I loved him...he never broke my heart...and I wonder about him sometimes...**

**Er, oh yeah...**

**Review, no flames :)**


	5. The Deal

**My. Feet. Are. Killing. Me. Walking sooo much today and getting my program card for my classes in High School. Ughhhhhh. Anyway. Enjoy the chappie. No flames, onegai.**

**

* * *

**

There was no way, _no way_, that she could fall for Sora. She wouldn't stand it. She would only have pain come to her if she fell in love with him.

Then again, what if she was already in love with him?

Well, simple, she would just deny it. After all, hadn't she done that in the past? She could do it again if she pleased.

Clutching her shirt over her heart, wrinkling the material, she made herself promise that she wouldn't get too close to him. She would distance herself and make sure that her heart wouldn't be shattered into a million pieces.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"AHHHHHHH!"

Roxas didn't bother going into Sora's room as he heard the screaming inside. He knew his brother was upset about something, and he wasn't going to be the one to make him more upset, even though he hardly cared.

Sora screamed again inside his room, tears flowing down his face. Screaming was the only way to make him feel better. He banged his fist on the bed that he was sprawled across and tried to hold in his emotions.

It was unfair. He was in love. In love with Nikki.

In love with a human.

If only she could be a vampire. Nothing would hold them back from being together if she was one of them. There would be no problems with his brother and her. There could be happiness for once.

But then, did _she _have to be a vampire? Couldn't he just be...human? There would be no worries like his first fantasy, and at the same time, Sora wouldn't have to worry about biting anyone ever again. Now if he could just become human...but how was that possible?

Sora turned to lie on his back as he tried to remember anybody to turn him into a human. Anybody, _anybody_...

He blinked, his mouth whispering the word: "Naminè."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

There wasn't much there, in the blank white room that almost blinded Sora's eyes as he walked inside. There was a table (white) and a chair (also white) and scattered papers over the clean (white) floor. The chair wasn't facing the brunette, but held the small blonde girl, who was calmly writing something in her book.

"Umm...excuse me?" Sora began, suddenly shy.

Naminè didn't speak, just stopped writing for a second, then continued.

Sora took a deep breath, then kept going. "Well, uh, I was wondering if I could have a favor. My name is So-"

"I know who you are," Naminè muttered. "Your brother's name is Roxas. You two are vampires."

He was shocked for a second, wondering how she knew, but then went on. "Well I wanted to know if you could turn me into a human."

Naminè whirled around in her chair, no expression in her clear blue eyes. "And why should I do that?"

He smiled weakly, for her presense made him want to jump. "There's this girl, Nikki, and I..." he paused to take in a breath, "I love her. And I want to become human to be with her."

First she blinked, then scoffed, spinning back around in her chair as it made a slight squeak. "I can't do that, Sora."

His heart sunk a bit. He thought she could, after all, she was a witch. there HAD to be a way for her to turn him into a normal human like Nikki. There HAD to be...

As if sensing his distress, the blonde sighed. "Listen, Sora, it's nothing against you personally, but you're a vampire, and she's not, and that's the way it was meant to be. I'm not one to try to change that."

"PLEASE!" he burst out suddenly, slightly making the girl jump. "Can't I prove it to you? I can prove it to you, Naminè! I love her and I need to be with her! Please, _please!_"

"Alright!" she exclaimed, whirling around in her chair. "You have one week starting tomorrow. You have to prove to me that you love her, and that you really care for her. If you can resist those urges to bite her and make it through the week, _and _kiss her, I'll turn you into a human."

Sora's heart jumped as he ran out of the room, screaming "Thank you!" to Naminè over his shoulder.

"Your week starts tomorrow!" she called as he ran off.

* * *

**Kay my grandmother's pissing me off so I gotta go. No flames!**


	6. Realization

**Ehhhhhh school on Tuesday. I am SOOOO FREAKED!!! Uh, anyway, here we go, on with the chappie...**

**No flames. Like...really lol**

* * *

Sora opened the door slowy and creeped inside, trying not to make any kind of noise that would alarm his brother. He was also trying not to jump up into the air and cry with happiness. After all, he just had a chance at being with Nikki without hurting her. How could he _not _be excited?

The floorboards almost mocked him as he crossed the living room, squeaking and almost drawling out the word "traitor" in his brother's voice. Sora flinched with each step, wishing that they would just shut up.

"Been waiting for you, Sora."

_Dammit!_ Sora squeezed his eyes shut as the light switched on. He could feel his brother's eyes digging into him as he stared intensely at the boy trying to sneak past him.

"So where exactly _were _you, dear brother?" Roxas questioned, leaning foward in his seat on the couch.

The brunette stood up straight, looking at the blonde and trying not to look away. "J-just...out."

"Thanks. Can we get to the specifics?"

_He doesn't have to question me like this...he's not the boss of me... _"...at Riku's house."

Roxas chuckled, sitting back and tilting his head towards the ceiling. "That's funny, Sora. _Really, really funny. _Because you see, I called Riku earlier and it seems that you weren't there."

There was silence in the room before Sora twitched a bit and spilled the news. "Alright, Roxas, I wasn't at Riku's house. I went to see Naminè We made a deal...I can turn human if I can just kiss Nikki by the end of the week, and prove to Naminè that I love Ni-"

"You _what?!_" Roxas's voice boomed through the whole house. Sora thought he felt the ground shake under his feet a bit. "Sora! _Sora! _How could you do something so...so _stupid?_"

Sora shook his head. "What do you mean by that? If I'm going to turn into a human everything is going to be alright, right? _Right?!"_

Roxas quieted down, letting the red color drain from his face as he walked out of the room, leaving Sora behind, shaking.

* * *

Laughter was abundant in the room as Kairi and Nikki tried to quiet themselves down. Music was playing at an approriate level in Kairi's room, and both of the girls were in their pajamas. Kairi had invited Nikki for a sleepover, not wanting to be lonely anymore, and Nikki agreed, knowing she hadn't spent much time with Kairi lately.

"So what other CD's do you have?" Nikki asked, crawling over to Kairi's CD collection to look for more.

The redhead jumped up and scurried over to the collection, pushing Nikki back gently. "Um, let me put the one we're listening to away first."

"Okay."

In truth, Kairi was really trying to hide something that was hidden among the CDs. There were a bunch of crumpled up letters to Sora, all of them trying to explain her feelings to him, all of them failed attempts that she had rolled up and thrown away. Kairi now quickly picked them up and stuffed them behind the collection while Nikki wasn't looking. "Uh, go ahead, pick a CD."

Happily, the brunette crawled over once again and looked through the number of CDs that her readheaded friend kept. "Let's see, Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, Linkin Park...who knew you listened to Linkin Park, Kai?"

Kairi giggled and shrugged. "I like their music."

Nikki smiled sweetly and turned back to the CDs. "Kasey Chambers?" she questioned, picking it up to look at it. "Never heard of her, I don't think..." Filled with curiousity, she popped the disc into the player and let it play.

"_Am I not pretty enough?_

_Is my heart too broken?_

_Do I cry too much?_

_Am I too outspoken?_

_Don't I make you laugh?..."_

That was it, all she needed to hear before her hand flew up to stop the song from playing. She tried to push back her memories of previous boys, Kevin, Juan, Christon...boys she never seemed pretty enough for, boys she never seemed good enough for. Now there was Sora, who she was falling for quickly, but knew in her heart that the outcome would always be the same.

"Nikki?" Kairi asked, sitting down next to her friend, alarmed. "Is something wrong? What is it?"

Now crying, Nikki explained her situation with Sora and other boys and how the song was a painful reminder that she never seemed to be good enough.

Kairi held in her breath. "You really like Sora, don't you?"

The brunette nodded slowly, wiping away a tear. "More than I've ever felt for anyone, but..."

The other girl shook her head and buried her head in her hands, then quickly looked up to make sure her friend hadn't seen. "Nikki...you're in love with him...aren't you?"

It took her a while before Nikki could finally respond. "Yes..." she sighed, letting tears roll down her face. "Yes, I love him...I _love _him..._please, please not _

* * *

Aha...so Kairi has realized that it is not just a crush I have, but LOVE! -starts singing "L.O.V.E." by Ashlee Simpson- Yeah anyway...

No flames:)


	7. The Week Begins

**Ooh getting really and I mean REALLY close to more dramaaaaa! Well anyway enjoy! No flames!**

* * *

Carefully, Naminè drew the brunette boy who had seen her before, Sora. As she finished drawing him and wiping away the eraser shavings, she mumbled, "Day 1. The week begins. Good luck, Sora."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The cold air hit Roxas in the face as the fan swept air around his bedroom. His hands were together held tightly, and he tried to keep himself calm.

There was no way that his brother was going to become a human. He just wouldn't allow it. After all, they were vampires, and Sora was going to just give away who he was. How could you just give up who you are? Roxas woudn't allow it.

"They're not going to be together...I'll make sure of it."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Stephanie, it'd be great if you could _not _jump on my bed," Nikki told her best friend weakly.

Stephanie jumped down and sat next to Nikki. "But I can't help it! This song makes me want to jump around and sing really loud!" she explained, regarding the song that was currently playing in the room, "Emergency" by Paramore.

Nikki sighed and smiled. "Yeah, I guess it does," she laughed, jumping around on the bed like the blonde was doing just a few seconds ago.

"Hey!" Before Stephanie could join her, though, Nikki's cell phone began to ring, and she dashed over to it beofre the brunette could realize it was ringing.

"Oooooh!" Stephanie teased, looking at the screen to see who was calling. "It's Sooooooora!"

Nikki gasped, jumped down from the bed and turned off the music. "Steph, gimme the pho-"

"Hello?" Stephanie answered. "Oh, hi, Sora...no, no, she's not here right now, can I take a message, pleaseeee?...Carnival, tomorrow? Sure, she'll be there!...M'kayyyyy, seeee ya later!"

She hung up with a satisfied grin.

"Stephanie!" Nikki whined, sinking to the floor.

"C'mon, up up up! This'll be fun! Let's get you something to wear for the carnival tomorrow night!" The blonde started to drag her away by the wrist to the closet.

_Well_, Nikki thought, _How bad could it be...right?_

_

* * *

_

**Bwahahahahaha! I don't even know how wrong I am there on that last sentence (did that make sense? lol) Anyway...something BIG to expect...YAY!**

**No flames!**


	8. Rapid Heartbeat: Day 2

**Wooooooot! First day of high school Tuesday! I found my classes and all, and Stephanie and I had some of the same classes and stuff, anddddd...yeah! Not a lot of homework! WOOOOOT!**

**Okay! On with the story! By the way, if you watch Degrassi: The Next Generation, you're going to at least smile. This chapter is SOOO Degrassi.**

* * *

"Ooooooh, Nikki, look at you!" Stephanie cooed, hands on her hips as she looked at her new work of art. "You look so...cute!" 

"Easy, Steph, don't go crushing on me or Joel's gonna lose interest," Nikki laughed.

Stephanie turned red at the mention of her crush's name as Nikki turned and skipped off.

"I'm going to Sora's house, okay?" Nikki called over her shoulder. "Do me a favor and don't go all creepy on me at the carnival!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

She listened to the ring of the bell echo as she rang the doorbell to Sora's house. She waited a while as the heat of the sun was pounding down on her head before somebody answered the door. However, it wasn't the cute brunette she was used to seeing. Instead, a blonde boy came to the door, and Nikki recognized him as Roxas.

"Um, hi, Roxas...is Sora here? We're going to the carnival together."

Roxas raised an eyebrow, then stepped back a bit. "No, he's actually not, he left to the carnival already thinking that you two were going to meet there, but come inside anyway. I wanna talk to you about something."

A bit confused, the brunette stepped into the doorway and sat down on the couch. Roxas sat down next to her after closing the door. There was silence as they both just sat, Roxas staring into her dark brown eyes for a while. It sort of made her uncomfortable.

"So there's something you should know about Sora," Roxas told her, sitting back on the couch and closing his eyes.

Nikki wasn't sure what was going on. "Er...what is it?"

Eyes still closed, Roxas mumbled softly, but loud enough for her to hear. "Sora is a vampire."

She jumped up a little bit, taken aback by his statement. "Excuse me?"

Roxas opened one eye to look at her, then shut it once more. "I said that he's a vampire."

Now laughing, Nikki stood up. "Look, Roxas, I don't have time for jokes. I need to go meet up with your broth-"

"Sit down."

She blinked. "No. I need to go."

Trying to hold in his temper, he only opened his eyes and stood up as well. "Fine. But I'm telling you he's a vampire. I'm giving you this fair warning."

"Sure, Roxas," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "And I'm the sugarplum princess."

He opened the door for her, watching her step out onto the porch. "Whatever you say. But when he bites you, don't come crying to me- oh wait! You won't. If he bites you, you'll die."

He shut the door.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Lights flashing, rides spinning one way or the other, screams of laughter and amusement, sounds that made Nikki feel certain that it was summer vacation. Even more, she was having a blast with Sora. They were both going on the rides together, and he made sure that if she was scared, he held her hand to make her feel better. She couldn't imagine having more fun than she was that night.

"What do you want to do now?" Sora questioned as they stood in the carnival, lights blinding them.

"You two haven't gone on the ferris wheel yet!" a voice chimed in, making Nikki squeak.

Stephanie.

"Well, you haven't!" she told them, winking at Sora.

Sora grabbed Nikki's hand gently, almost oblivious to Stephanie's gesture. "Let's go, then."

The flurry of butterflies went through Nikki's stomach as she followed him to the ferris wheel, leaving behind a grinning Stephanie. She was partially nervous because, well, she was going to be alone with Sora up high. The other thing that had been bothering her was what Roxas had told her earlier. Of course, she couldn't listen to him, because how silly was that? Sora, a _vampire?_ That couldn't be true.

Still, he had seemed pretty serious when he said it.

The two of them stepped onto the ferris wheel, letting their cart go up. Nikki looked down and held in her breath, watching the ground below her get smaller and smaller. The lights became a blur of bright colors and the screams were still heard.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Sora asked close to her ear, which, in the dark, was pretty damn scary and made her jump a bit.

"Uh, y-yeah, it really is."

"What's wrong?" he asked her. She knew he was close to him, because even though she was looking the other way, she could feel his hand slightly over hers and his breath on her neck.

"Nothing, Sora, really, just looking at the-" she turned around only to see his face right next to hers. Her heart skipped about 200 beats, or at least that's what it felt like to her.

"Nikki...are you okay?"

She nodded, not wanting to lie to him. "Yeah, I guess I'm just...scared of being so high up," she explained. Well, at least she was telling the truth. She _did _feel pretty uneasy up there in the dark, and to be so high up as well. Still, there was something about being with Sora that made those feelings just wash away...

Suddenly, she felt his arms warm around her. The breeze that was hitting her in the face two seconds earlier had left, and she could hear his heartbeat as she sat with her head to his chest. She was warm, happy, comfortable in his arms. This was where she wanted to be.

And then the ride was over.

It was unfair! It had only been barely a minute to her! Of course, she knew that they had spent much longer like that, their arms wrapped around each other, nobody making a sound and yet saying a speech-worth of words with nothing at all.

_Oh, stop denying it, Nikki, _she thought to herself. _You're in love with this boy._

Stephanie grinned as she saw the two step off of the ferris wheel. "A little more personal, I see?"

Nikki blushed madly, wishing she could retreat back into Sora's arms, but decided not to in the blonde's presense.

Sora only smiled and looked at the brunette standing next to him. Seeing that smile, that beautiful smile...she _had _to smile back.

And that's when she noticed. His teeth. His..._teeth_. They weren't normal. He almost looked like he had..._fangs._

_No way, Nikki, pull it together. He's not a...vampire...is he?_

All the staring Sora was receiving from Nikki was beginning to make him wonder. Finally he gasped and stopped smiling, turning away.

"I'll leave you alone now," Steph sighed, walking away into the swarming crowd.

"Sora!" Nikki grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him to face her. He blushed slightly at how close their faces were. "Are you okay?"

He nodded quietly, not showing his teeth again. "Yeah..."

It was almost like slow motion, the way they were getting closer and closer, the way the distance between their lips was decreasing...

And then Sora pulled away, right before their lips could touch.

"No, Nikki, I can't," he mumbled, turning away from her.

Her eyes began to fill with tears. She felt the warm liquid run down her face as her voice quivered. "Why not, Sora?"

He sighed, wishing he could explain everything to her, but he couldn't. How would she react if she knew he was a vampire? "I just...can't."

She shook her head slowly, letting the tears roll a bit more now. "I knew it. I _knew _it was too good to be true. I knew _you _were too good to be true. I thought I could...I thought you'd be different..."

"I am!" he defended, whirling around to face her.

"You're just like them all!" she hissed at him, the tears spewing more than before, slightly resembling a faucet at that rate.

"I'm NOT!" he screamed.

That's when she saw, when she got a good look at him. They were _fangs. _

_Roxas was right..._

"Sora..." She backed away slowly, her eyes wide. "You're...you're a..."

His blue eyes widened with shock. Did she know? She knew he was a vampire? But...

"A vampire." The words were a whisper, but hit Sora like a massive ton of bricks. **She knew. **


	9. Beautifully Broken: Day 2

**Hehehehehe I'm lovin' the reactions to my last chappie! Well as you can see, Roxas is tying pretty damn hard to make sure Sora and I don't kiss. Add gasp here. Yeah anyway...let's see if his plan works.**

**Oh yeah, and do any of you watch the anime Karin or read the manga Chibi Vampire? Cuz if you do, you can probably tell that I based Roxas in this story off of Ren in that series. Who I love, by the way. YAY REN lol**

**Anywayyyy, I don't own KH or the characters, 'cept for me. Yay for me.**

* * *

Her pillow had become a very familiar thing to Nikki as she sat on her bed, staring at the ceiling. There was no way she would be right, after all, vampires? Ridiculous, right? But then again...his teeth, what his brother said... 

It was all too confusing for her, but she knew that she had to stay away from him unless she wanted to get bitten by him. It tore her heart up to know that she couldn't be with the one she loved for reasons she never thoughts she'd deal with. It was so unfair, so very unfair. When she finally thought that for once she'd have a shot at love, it was taken away from her.

Why did these things always happen to her?

"Teardrops on My Guitar", her new ringtone, began playing from somewhere under the mess of bedsheets she was sleeping on. After dealing with the tangles in the sheets for a few seconds, she fetched the little pink thing to see who was calling, not that she didn't already know; "Teardrops on My Guitar" was the ringtone for when Stephanie called her.

Nikki sighed and put down the phone next to her. "I don't feel like talking, Steph," she sighed to herself, hitting ignore on the phone.

It was about a minute later that the phone beeped to tell her that she got a voicemail. She winced a bit, almost not wanting to hear it, but she did anyway, entering the password to her inbox (which was his name).

"Nikki! Nikki, Nikki, Nikkiiiii! You can't pick up a damn phone when your B-F-F calls? Fine, I see how it is...so did something happen with Sora? Did he, what, knock you up or something? Cuz if he did, seriously, I'm here for you. I'll watch the baby during the day. Call me back, okay?"

The brunette groaned and buried her face into the pillow, closing the phone. _I wonder what our baby would look like anyway?_

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I know you did it, Big Brother!" Sora screamed. His voice was accompanied by the slamming door behind him as he walked into his house. Roxas was probably in his room. He banged his fist on the door multiple times, screaming as he did. "Get out here, Roxas! I don't care what you're doing in there, reading, watching TV, impregnating a Spice Girl, I don't care, just get your ass out here!"

He regretted his words as soon as his brother opened the door, crystal blue eyes staring straight at him angry.

"Thank you for abusing my door," Roxas said calmly.

"Don't get sarcastic now!" Sora screamed, forgetting his small regret. "You told her, didn't you?! You told her we were vampires!"

Roxas leaned against the doorway. "Correction: I told her _you _were a vampire. I never said anything about myself."

"Why would you do that?" Sora yelled in frustration. "Now I'll never kiss her by the end of the week, and I'll never become human, and I'll never be with her!" There were now tears streaming down his face. Roxas looked away.

"I told you to stay away from her, but you didn't listen to me," the blonde explained. "So I had to make sure you stayed away myself."

The words were itching to leave Sora's mouth, but he couldn't speak them. Instead he just turned and ran into his room, shutting the door and then standing on the door in anger. There was no way Roxas was going to get away with this. He was going to fix things as best as he could.

He was going to be with her.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Confusion flowing through Nikki's head were interrupted by her phone ringing again. This time the ringtone was different, and she looked to see who was calling.

Sora.

She bit her lip, hesitant to answer, but finally chose "Accept."

"Hello?"

"Nikki?" Sora's voice sounded relieved on the other side. "Would you be willing to give me another chance?"


	10. Reconsideration: Day 3

**Three days of school this week. WEEEEEE! Yeah anyway, still waiting for my charger to come in the mail...ANYYYYY day now... -sigh-**

**Yes, well, I don't own KH or the characters...just me. But you know...I'm now a KH character soooo...you know what...yeahhhh lol**

**OH! And I don't own "YES, YES! TAKE ME TO VEGAS!" That's Matya's quote, in reference to marrying Edward Cullen. Yesh. So read on, review, no flames, gracias:)**

**

* * *

**

Her heart froze instantly, the moment he heard his words.

Another chance? Of course she wanted to scream out, "YES, YES! TAKE ME TO VEGAS!" but she knew she had to control herself. She took in a deep breath, trying to balance herself from going insane and screaming out in joy at his request.

Then again, he was a vampire. And she remembered what Roxas had said, that if he bit her, she'd die. She didn't want that to happen, but...

Hadn't she spent all that time with Sora without getting bitten? Maybe she would be safe...maybe she could handle it...

"Another chance, Sora?" she repeated into the phone.

His voice was heard clearly in her ears. "Yeah, another chance."

"Sora...you're a vampire..."

He sighed on the other line. "Yeah...I wanted to talk to you about that."

She propped herself up against the wall where the bed was. She pulled the pillow closer to her chest and hugged it tightly. He continued.

"Listen, I'm not going to bite you. Really." He paused before his next sentence to think about how weird it was for him to be talking about biting people. "You have to be unhappy for me bite you, and you never are, as I can see. Besides...I can control myself. I would never bite you."

Nikki bit [[ironic, no? her bottom lip and tried to keep the smile from erupting. "I'll give you another chance."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Well, little brother, you seem to be happy today. Even after not being able to see what's-her-face?" Roxas told Sora the next morning as they ate breakfast.

Sora rolled his eyes as he crunched on some cereal. "You didn't win, Roxas," he told his blonde brother, finsihing the last of the food. He picked up his plate and walked to the sink, feeling Roxas's questioning eyes digging into his back.

"What do you mean?" Roxas asked, sitting back in his chair and dropping the spoon in his bowl.

"I mean that we're still gonna hang out," Sora informed quietly, putting his plate in the kitchen and turning around. "I'm going to Riku's house. Have fun with the dishes."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Kairi pushed her red hair over her shoulder as she and Nikki sat at the park the next day. The clouds were forming in the sky and interrupting the beautiful day. "So Stephanie told me that you and Sora...were having some problems?" She seemed a bit more confident in herself, knowing that Nikki and Sora might not be together, even though it would hurt her friend.

Nikki shook her head with a smile, though. "It's all alright now. I can...trust him." She smiled, looking up at the sky.

Kairi could feel the frown forming on her face. Trust? This didn't sound good.

"But thank you for being there for me, Kairi. You're a great friend." Nikki flashed another warms smile and gave the redhead a tight hug, one of appreciation.

Roxas could see from behind the tree that Nikki definetly wasn't upset as she sat on the park bench with Kairi. After all, laughter was definetly NOT a sign of sadness. He sighed in frustration. There _had _to be a way to keep his brother away from her. There just _had _to be...

As the clouds formed more overhead, Roxas could feel his blood reacting strongly to someone nearby. He looked around, his crystal blue eyes scanning the area for the source. Finally, his eyes landed on her.

Kairi.

"Oh!" he said, sort of surprised. "Who knew it'd be her? Well...she does seem pretty upset..." He held his clentched fist to his chest. "But I can't bite her, can I?"

Then his eyes fell on Nikki, and the whole thing came into place.

Roxas grinned, the shadows of the gathering clouds overhead covering his face now.


	11. Good Friend: Day 3

**Oh em geeeeee! Like, total drama here! And oh em geeeee! I dunno why I'm talking like this! -cute, ditsy giggle-**

**Yeah anyway lol Yes, as I said there's drama here. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yes. Evil laugh mastered, here.**

**Anywayyyy. I don't own KH or the characters, 'cept me. Yayyyy meeee!**

* * *

Nikki looked up at the sky and sighed. Kairi did the same. Their reasons weren't the same, however.

Nikki was wishing that the clouds would clear up so that she could continue to enjoy her day. She didn't want her cheerful thoughts of Sora to fly off with the dark, depressing-looking clouds that were forming above her. She wanted it to be sunny, to not try to darken her mood and ruin her day of feeling better. She just wanted her smiles to be supported by the sunshine.

As Kairi looked up at the clouds, she was happy to know that Nikki thought of her as great friend, but still seemed sad because she wouldn't really have a chance with Sora. She wished that she could just figure everything out, to know how Sora felt about her and if he felt anything real towards Nikki. If only she could have answers...

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I'll see you later, Riku!" Sora called out as he left Riku's house.

Riku smiled as his best friend walked away. Though his thumbs were throbbing from so much video-game playing, he was glad that Sora came over to hang out. He was wondering how Sora had been feelingrecently, and now finally had the chance to talk to him without Sora realizing that he was basically analyzing him as if he was a therapist. The flashing lights of the video games they were playing was distracting enought to Sora, and good for Riku so that he could find out more about his best friend's life without asking him straight up. He was glad that Sora was content with Nikki and that nothing horrible was going on at the moment.

Riku sighed as he leaned on the door to keep it up. "Don't hurt my best friend, anyone."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I'm going to go take a walk," Kairi told Nikki, standing up from the park bench.

Nikki ripped her eyes from the sky above her. She nodded and smiled. "Okay, Kai."

Kairi turned to leave, but Nikki grabbed her by the wrist. The redheaded girl turned around, surprised.

"Kairi," the brunette said with a smile. "Thank you."

The other girl's eyes widened. "What?"

"Thank you. Again. For being a friend to me. A great friend. Don't know what I'd do without ya."

Kairi stared as the smaller girl let go of her wrist.

"Go ahead and take you walk," Nikki told her with a warm smile, then returning her vision to the sky.

Kairi blinked a few times, then smiled and walked away.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_There she is,_ Roxas thought, spotting the redheaded girl Nikki had been hanging out with. _She's alone and- WOAH! She's got a load of unhappiness bottled up inside her. Wonder what's bugging her?_

"Hey, Kairi," Roxas greeted her, stepping out from behind a tree and trying to control his hunger for the blood Kairi had.

She looked up, a bit surprised by the greeting. "Hi, Roxas. Um, what's up?"

"Nothing much," Roxas told her, trying to put on his best fake happy personality. "So, walk with me, talk with me, how's life?"

She looked away as they walked away from the group of people and into a more deserted area. "N-nothing much is going on..."

He smirked. _Oh, the blood's gotta be better than I thought._ "Why don't you tell me a little about it?"

She wiped a tear away and nodded. "It's just that I like someone a lot, but he seems to love someone more and...I don't have a chance."

They were now alone, away from the screams of little kids, and finally under some shade. Kairi was sort of relieved, it was cooler there.

Roxas smiled at her sweetley. "Kairi, Kairi, Kairi. I know what'll make you feel better." He put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

She sniffed a little. "You do?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah," he told her assuringly. "Just close your eyes."

Hopeful that he could ease her feelings, she did as he was told. _Finally...maybe my mind will clear up and I'll feel better about this. One thing's sure, I wanna tell Sora how I feel today. I will..._

_Gosh_, Roxas thought mischieveiously. _This was almost too easy._

Slowly, hungrily, he sunk his teeth into her flesh...

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sora looked up as the front door to the house closed. Roxas stepped inside, looking down and away from his brother.

"Roxas-nii-chan! You're home!" Sora greeted. "Where were you, anyway?"

"At the park," his brother answered plainly.

"That's funny, Nikki was hanging out there with...Kairi...today..." Sora's voice trailed off. "Roxas, what did you do?"

"What makes you think I did something?" the blonde questioned, still looking the opposite direction. He wiped some blood off the corner of his mouth.

Sora's eyes went widw with fear and shock. "Roxas...did...did you...?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Her eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. It couldn't be her, it couldn't be her lying there in the grass, unmoving and bite marks to her neck. It couldn't be...it _couldn't _be...!

"KAIRI!"


	12. Aia: Day 4

**Weeee! Me likey school! xDDDDD Yeah anyway...**

**So anyway, new character!!! Yeah lol well I had major writer's block, so SOOOOSORRY for the delay here, but I had help with this chapter, and TADA, new charrie xD **

**And it kinda all fell into place, when I realized that Stephanie's hair isn't blonde anymore (she dyed it back to brown in Oct. or Sept.) so I had to put that here and at the same time get Aia in soooo yeah. It all works out.**

**Whoops, Steph...I have a Joel mention in here...I gotta find a way to fit in Jill lol **

**Don't own KH or the characters, 'cept me, and maybe Stephanie on weekends.**

* * *

Tears never ever seemed to be enough for Nikki. It was like when all of her sorrow was washed out and spread on the pillow beneath her, she wanted _more. _The thing is, she had not idea how. 

Screaming was definetly an option. She could scream loudly into her pillow and it'd be fine, she could lat out all of the pain and anger and sadness that was bottled up inside her. But for a girl who often choked on her words, this option seemed to cancel out quickly.

She hadn't spoken to Sora since she saw Kairi dead. It wasn't like she spoke to _anybody_, actually. Hours had passed by, hours of tears and screaming and hoping that this wasn't real, that the pain would go away if she just simply _wished _it away.

Nothing had happened.

Now, she sat there sighing, hugging her pillow to her chest and shutting her eyes tight. Maybe she oculd talk to Sora, maybe he'd make her feel better, maybe he'd hold her close and wipe her tears away and-

"Oh my God..._oh my God!"_

It all came back to her, she remembered all too quickly.

The teeth marks on Kairi's neck...they couldn't have been any other than

She dug her face into her pillow, eyes wide, heart pounding with fear.

"Sora..."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Nikki-chan...Nikki-chan! Please, open the door!" Brenda called desperately from the other side of Nikki's bedroom door. She had been trying this for twenty minutes, trying to get her friend to come out, but so far, nothing had happened. "Nikki-chan...I'm sooo sorry about what happened to Kairi." She bit her lip, knowing that Nikki probably wouldn't come out. "Alright, then...if you need me, you know I'm here for you." She sighed and walked away from the door.

Heading downstairs, she plopped down on the couch and shook her head as she turned on the TV. Stephanie came through the front door just then.

"Hey, Brenda," Stephanie said, kicking the door closed and grabbing Brenda's soda out of her hands and continuing to her room.

"Uhm...hey," Brenda said, staring at her empty hand. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna change my shoes real quick and go back out. These shits are bothering me. My new friend's gonna be here in like ten minutes," she called from upstairs.

"Who?" Brenda asked back.

Stephanie came hopping down the stairs, pulling on her left shoe as she made her way over to the couch. "Aia," she replied. "She's new here, she just moved here. We met at the park and I mentioned how I hate my hair blonde and she offered to help me dye it back to brown."

"Oh, cool," Brenda said, turning her attention back to the TV.

Another ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. Stephanie was in the kitchen eating and called out for Brenda to open the door, but with about twelve cookies in her mouth, it sounded more like "Fenfa, fret dub forrrr."

Brenda got up and opened the door. Standing in front of her was another girl. Her skin type was around Stephanie's but a bit darker, not "transparent" as Nikki often joked with her best friend. Her eyes, like Nikki's were a dark brown, almost black-looking. Her hair was like a chocolate type of brown, with red streaks decorating it. She smiled brightly at Brenda. "Hey, I'm Aia. Is Stephanie here?"

"Hi, Aia," Brenda greeted happily. "My name's Brenda. Stephanie's right inside, you can come on in."

_I really like her hair, _Brenda thought as Aia walked inside. _I can see why Stephanie's so exicted about Aia helping her._

"Hey! I'm ready to go!" Stephanie said, wiping crumbs from the corner of her mouth as she stepped out of the kitchen.

"Cool. Well it was nice meeting you, Brenda," Aia said as she and Stephanie left.

"Likewise." Brenda kept her smile on tight, though she was still concerned for Nikki, who was still upstairs as she had been for hours on end. "Stop by anytime, ok?"

Aia nodded as she left the house with Stephanie.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Once.

Twice.

Three times the phone rang before Nikki decided to look at the caller ID. It was Sora.

Sora.

Of all people, why would she want to talk to him? After all, Kairi, the bite marks, the fact that Sora was a vampire, it was all too much. Now he had the guts to talk to her after what he did? No way, _no way_ was she going to give him the satisfaction of letting him know she lost his cruel little game.

Just as she hit the ignore button, Stephanie burst in the room. There was something different about her...

"HEYYYYYYY!" she shouted as she walked over to Nikki's bed. She flipped her hair and did a littl strut as she did.

"Been watching too much of 'America's Next Top Model', Steph," Nikki said in a small voice.

"You like that show."

"Yeah...your hair looks good."

"Thanks. Aia helped me with it."

"Who?" Nikki was unfamiliar with the person.

"Nevermind, just a new girl I met." Stephanie paused before she turned to leave the room. "Are you ever gonna see anything beyond these four walls?"

"I'm seeing you, aren't I?" Nikki said softly.

The now brunette girl sighed. "Whatever..." She slowly left the room, forgetting all about her hair suddenly.

Nikki stayed put where she was for another half an hour. She knew she had to leave, had to face the world, face the truth...

Her voicemail sound rang.

_I guess I should listen to it..._

"Hey, Nikki," Sora's voice said on the message. "I know you've been really upset lately since..." his voice trailed off. "You know...what happened yesterday. Well...if you wanted to talk, you could come to the park, I'm there now and I'll be there for a while, okay? So...just letting you know that. L-...Bye."

_What's with the ending?_ Nikki thought to herself, then shook it off. _Whatever...it's time to face him..._

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

It seemed like it had been an eternity since Nikki had been in the park, even though she had been out there yesterday. She looked around for Sora, though being in the room for so long made her almost forget what he looked like.

Finally, she spotted him, sitting on a bench near the fountains. Sighing, she stepped foward to face him finally.

_This is it, I guess..._

As she got closer, though, she noticed there was someone else there...a girl...

She had hair almost like Nikki's, but with red streaks in it. She was talking to Sora, laughing and smiling...

And _pretty damn close _to him...

Nikki paused where she was and thought to herself, _Now what were saying about facing him?_

_

* * *

_

**Another cliffie! xD Well I'm super excited to work on this!!! Too bad my laptop hates me!!! Well, what I'll do is write what I can on my laptop, and then I'll also write on my uncle's computer, and hell, why not write a little when I have free time in my Word Processing class. If I wasn't so chicken, I could skip my tenth period class (Spanish) and hang out with Alex in the computer lab and write there, since I like...already know Spanish xD But nah, I'll be a good girl hehe**

**No flames:)**


	13. Goodbye: Day 4

**I'm getting SOOOO into writing this thing X3 This is gonna be funnnnn lol**

**So Steph...got Jill? xD Maybe I'll throw her in for ya? Why not lol**

**So um...I don't own the KH characters. Lettin' ya know that.**

**

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_Another girl..._

At this point Nikki wasn't sure if she should turn back, just not go up to Sora and...and the other girl whose name she didn't know.

_Aghhh! Why do these things always happen to me!?_ she yelled at herself in her head.

Slowly, she tried to turn around to leave them, but it was too late. Sora had already seen her.

"Hey, Nikki, over here!" he called.

She winced. _Dammit! He saw me..._ She turned around, a plastered and fake smile on her face as she did. With her thoughts racing and scolding herself silently, she made her way over to the two teens sitting on the bench and sat down next to Sora.

Sora smiled at her, and seemed to be relieved with her not seeming so...well, upset over what had happened with Kairi. "Uhm, Nikki, this is Aia." He tilted his head towards the other girl seated next to him.

Aia smiled at her warmly. "Hi, Nikki. Sora's told me sooo much about you so far!"

"Oh...r-really? He, uhm, he hasn't really said much about...you...lately..." _Nice one, Nik, that didn't come out the way you_ _wanted. _

Aia didn't seem to notice. "Oh, that's because I just moved here. Sora bumped into me by accident while I was unloading the truck and helped out."

The name was suddenly familiar to Nikki. "Aia...do you happen to know a girl named Stephanie?"

"Yeah, I helped her out with her hair. She wanted to dye it brown."

"Oh, so THAT was you! She's my best friend. I can see why she'd ask you to help. I love the streaks!"

Aia giggled. "Thanks!"

Sora laughed suddenly, leaning back on the bench. "I can see you guys are getting along!"

Nikki looked up at Sora, and it hit her again. _I almost forgot...all about how he bit Kairi..._

Damn...just when she seemed to be enjoying herself, these thoughts and emotions, they just HAD to come back.

Aia stood up. "Well, I think I should probably go. I have to be home soon."

"Do you want me to walk you?" Sora asked. Another shot to Nikki's heart.

"Nah, I'm good for now. I'll talk to you online." With that, she walked off.

"She seems cool," Nikki told Sora as she watched her walk off. "Wait...online? You have her screenname?"

Sora nodded, then turned back to Nikki. "I'll let you have it later. But right now...I wanted to talk to you."

A knot was forming in Nikki's stomach. "Uhm...about what?"

"Kairi."

_Shit, I knew it would come to this sooner or later, _she thought to herself sadly. "Oh yeah...I really...miss her..."

Nikki shook her head, feeling the tears come to her eyes. She couldn't do this. She couldn't keep on pretending that she didn't know anything. Sora bit Kairi...not even, Sora _killed _Kairi...she couldn't let that go, pretend it was nothing. She had to confront him.

"Sora, I saw the bite marks on her neck."

Sora almost jumped a bit. "B-bite marks...?"

"Don't play stupid! You bit her, Sora, I know you bit her!" Now Nikki was standing up, staring at him through tears that were blurring her vision.

Sora stood up as well, stepping toward her to comfort her.

"No, Sora!" she backed up from the blue-eyed boy in front of her. "No! If...if you can't control your temptations..." She sighed, upset, and looked to the floor. Softly, she spoke. "Then we can't be around each other anymore."

Pounding, pounding, his heart was pounding furiously now, trying to process what she said. "W-what? No, Nikki-"

"Bye, Sora." She stepped back and ran up the path of the park that Aia had just taken, heading home. Tears followed behind her, almost trying to catch up, it would seem, but more tears pushed them back.

Nikki almost bumped into Aia as she ran. She was almost out of the park.

"Oh, s-sorry, Aia," she said before taking off again.

Aia stood still for a second and blinked, watching the crying girl run off. _What could she be crying about?_ she thought to herself. A few seconds later, Sora tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to face him. He was out of breath, and he looked concerned.

"Sora, are you ok?" Aia asked as Sora tried to catch his breath. "What happened with Nikki?"

The brunette boy looked up at her sadly, trying his best to explain, but confusion and sadness didn't mx into words well.

Aia smiled and put an arm around his shoulder. "Don't worry, Sora, whatever it is..."

He looked up at her hopefully, his crystal blue eyes meeting with her dark brown ones.

"I'll help you through it," Aia finished.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Nikki slammed the front door behind her as she walked inside. The tears on her face were dry now. Brenda was sitting on the couch reading a book. "Hey, Nikki-chan!" she greeted from behind the pages. When her "twin" didn't answer, she looked up. "Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah..." She looked toward Stephanie, who was seated on the couch next to Brenda, wide-eyed. "Now what about her?"

Brenda began to laugh and Stephanie darted her an evil look to make her stop.

Nikki shrugged. She turned to the desk that was in the living room. "So, uhm, listen I'm gonna use the compu-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the shriek came from Stephanie, whose wide eyes seemed to be even wider.

"Steph!?"

Brenda laughed again. "Axel told her to go to two girls one cup dot com."

Nikki burst out laughing. "Stephanie, you should have known better than to go to there."

Brenda nodded. "Yeah, we're talking about the same guy who told you to go to homo dot com and you listened."

Stephanie shook her head, almost crying. "Never...have a barfed, laughed and cried all at once..."

Nikki laughed once more. This feeling, this feeling of happiness and laughter, it's one she hadn't felt in a while, and was hopeful that maybe now she could feel that more often. Now that she decided to stay away from Sora...now it could all be better...

* * *

**Woo! Big change there! xD **

**And uhm...yeah. That's Stephanie's real reaction after going to that site. I warn you. Both the sites mentioned here? Don't go to them. Just don't do it. Total nastiness right there xD**

**No flames, please!**


	14. Jealousy: Day 5

**The battery on my laptop absolutely hates me. On the bright side, my birthday is coming up! Just three more days! Then finally on Wednesday I shall be fourteen! Another cool thing, I have Japanese club after school on Wednesday, too. Man, I really wanna get a haircut for my birthday... like the one I get in this chapter! Weeeee!**

**Review please, and no flames!**

**I don't own the KH characters.**

**

* * *

**

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Stephanie questioned the next day as Nikki was getting ready to leave the house with her best friend.

"Yeah," Nikki said, grabbing the keys and shoving them in the pockets of her jeans. "I really think that if I'm going to start over after Sora and all I should get a new haircut to make me feel new and...refreshed."

"You sound like a toothpaste commercial," the other girl said as she shut the front door. They both stepped onto the sidewalk. It was a fairly hot day. The sun wasn't hiding behind the clouds as it seemed to like to do for the past few days. "And about Sora...are you sure you made the right choice?"

"Of course!" Nikki said confidently. "Look...the farther away from him I am, the less my problems with him will pop up.

Stephanie looked down at her feet as she walked. _Maybe I should get a pedicure_, she thought to herself before she snapped back to the conversation. "Didn't you say he bit Kairi?"

"...well...yeah..."

Stephanie didn't say anything after that as they made their way to the hair salon. _Maybe it really WAS for the best..._

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Believe me, little brother, it was for the best," Roxas told Sora from the other side of his brother's bedroom door.

Sora's shaking voice shouted on the other side. "It's not fair, Roxas! She thinks _I _bit Kairi! She's going to stay away from me now because of you, because you're so...so STUPID!"

Roxas sighed and leaned against the door. Once again, his brother was being stubborn. It _was _for the best, after all. Now Nikki would stay away from Sora and the deal would be over in two days anyway. Then Sora would stay a vampire, and there would be no chance that he would become a human. It was a smart plan, if he did say so himself.

The blonde boy stepped away from the door and into the living room. There she sat, chocolate brown hair with the red streaks, and the dark brown eyes...

"So how's he doing?" Aia asked from her seat on the white couch.

Roxas sat down as well. "Still upset. He'll get over it, though."

Aia smiled, revealing her perfect, beautiful white teeth...

_Fangs. _

"He sure is a cutie," she laughed.

Roxas smiled at her. "Maybe soon enough he'll fall for you instead. Ater all, I'd prefer him to be with a **vampire** like yourself. What's your blood preference, anyway?"

Aia twirled a finger around one of the red streaks in her hair. "Jealousy."

Roxas smacked his forehead with his left hand. "That's perfect!"

"What do you mean?"

The blonde looked around a bit to make sure his younger brother didn't come wimpering out of his room. "Well...what I mean is..."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Annnnnnd she's home!" Stephanie cheered as she opened the front door.

Shannon and Brenda looked up from the couch where they were playing "The Sims 2 Pets" on the PS2.

"Nikki got her haircut?" Shannon asked, looking up.

"Shannon...you set my sim on fire..." Brenda said, annoyed.

Nikki stepped through and into the living room. "TADA!!!!"

She had cut it for sure. It was now slightly past her shoulders, and it now had pink highlights in it. She smiled and flipped her hair. "Thank you, thank you, no autographs please!"

"Ooh, it looks great, Nikki-chan!" Brenda commented.

"Yeah!" Shannon agreed. "Wait till Sora sees-"

Brenda nudged the other girl with her shoulder.

"What?"

"I'll explain later," Brenda offered, remembering that Shannon had missed a bit of the drama since she had slept over at her friend Sarah's house.

Stephanie turned to Nikki. "Bet you're feeling good, huh? Seems like everybody's mesin' around with their hair here."

Nikki nodded. "Life's gonna be good from now on."

But even though she said the words, she sure as heck didn't feel like they were true...


	15. One Kiss: Day 5

**Ok, ok I just HAD to write another chapter tonight. I'm really addicted to this xD**

**Anyway. No flames.**

**I don't own the KH characters...just me xD**

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**

When Sora was sure that Roxas was gone, he left his room. He had to take a walk in the park, trying to clear his mind about what had happened with Nikki.

As he walked around the fountain for the probably forty-fifth time, he started to think about his deal with Naminè. How was he going to keep that up? Was there any way he could prove his love within the next two days?

Suddenly, he bumped into someone. "Ow!"

Opening his eyes, he looked up to see that it was Aia. She winced, but then smiled at him. She seemed pretty happy to see him.

"Oh, hey Sora," she greeted happily, standing up and holding out her hand to him.

He took her hand uneasily and stood up. "Hey, Aia. What's up?"

"Oh...I was just taking a walk around the park, that's all."

"Funny, so was I."

Aia leaned back, laughing a bit. "Well WHAT a coincidence! Wanna walk around with me some more?"

Sora sighed softly. He really did miss Nikki, miss being around her, and wanted to think some more. But maybe talking to Aia would clear his mind a bit. He nodded. "Sure."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Brenda, you might as well be called Target Practice." Nikki laughed at her "twin" a bit before Brenda tried to talk.

"It's not funny!" Brenda defended, though she was trying not to laugh herself.

"What isn't funny?" Stephanie asked, taking a seat on the couch with the other two girls.

"Remember when we went to New Rochelle and Marc and Eddie were like, uber obsessive over Halo 2?" Nikki questioned her best friend, who nodded. "Brenda's tried to play it and she can't, she keeps getting killed."

"So now she's calling me Target Practice!" Brenda jumped in.

"Oh wow," Stephanie said, giggling. "Hey, have you guys seen my phone? I'm waiting to someone to call me."

Nikki winked at Stephanie. "Who, hmm? Joeeeeeeeellllllllll?"

She shook her head. "No! Jill."

Brenda winked at Stephanie now. "Jiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllllllll."

Nikki blinked. "Woah woah woah. You guys are going out?"

The other girl nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"I thought you liked Joel!"

"Thins change...feelings change. Sometimes you can't run from things so easily. Sometimes you gotta face the changes." Stephanie smiled at her best friend and got up. "I'm gonna go look for my phone.

Nikki sighed as she turned back to Brenda. "Well...at least those two make a cute couple."

Brenda nudged Nikki. "You miss, Sora, don't you?"

The brunette moved slightly. "Well...a little...I mean..." Finally she sighed, exasperated. "I don't know! I really miss him, but..."

Brenda sat back on the couch, putting her hand on her "twin"'s shoulder. "Look, Nikki-chan, I think you should really talk to him. You can't really just throw him out of your life, you know. You have to talk to him, so you can both get through each and every one of your problems together."

Nikki nodded. "Yeah...I guess you're right...I'm gonna go to the park, I need some air and time to think things over."

"Might wanna go now, it's gonna be dark soon. Don't wanna get raped."

Nikki laughed as she got up.

"Hey, by the way," Brenda said. "Do you have Aia's phone number? I was thinking about getting some red streaks like she has."

"No...but why? Your hair looks fine as it is."

"...my mom says black hair is for old people..."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The park really WAS getting dark, like Brenda had said. But Nikki really did need to get some fresh air and clear her mind. She approached the basketball courts, which were emptying now and there were some available benches.

As she got closer, she couldn't help but notice somebody else was already there...

"I had a nice little walk, Sora," Aia told the brunette boy in front of her.

He smiled at her. He couldn't lie, he had, too. "So did I, Aia."

Aia chuckled and leaned a bit closer to him.

"Is that Aia and...Sora?" Nikki asked herself aloud as she got closer.

Aia was getting yet closer to Sora...and...and...

Nikki froze in her tracks.

_She kissed him..._

_

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_

**Hmm...yeah, I think I'll leave you guys here for now! xD I gotta go to bed for now. So review, no flames!!!**


	16. Paralyzed: Day 5

**Le squeak! Two more days until my birthday! xD Man! I'm so excited! High school rocks, FOR SURE:D**

**Anyway, hereeeee's your next chappie.**

**And Stephanie. If you're reading this: C'MON, LEMME HAVE BOBO! JUST FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!! D:**

**Anywaayyyyyyy, I don't own the KH characters. No flames!**

**

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Those kisses on TV, the ones that she had seen since she was so attached to romance movies, that's what she was seeing in front of her eyes at that moment. And her heart stopping, the last time she felt that was probably when she went on the Cyclone for the first time. Only this time, it wasn't going to last about thirty seconds until she burst into laughter. This was worse, this was completely painful.

Oh sure, she knew that she'd felt this sort of...betrayal, she'd say, before. As a matter of fact, this happened every time she fell-...she had feelings for someone before. This was exactly why she made herself that promise. Betrayal and love seemed to be the best of friends.

Sora stepped back from Aia, blinking, sort of confused. "Wait, Aia...I think-"

"Shhh," she said, putting a well-manicured finger over his lips. "Don't say anything. Sora, you know you're over cotton-candy hair girl. It's definetly time to move on. There are other fish in the sea."

Sora turned away, his crystal blue eyes looking in another direction. "I don't want to go fishing anymore if I can't have what I want."

Aia laughed a hearty laugh and turned his head back to her. "Oh, but Sora, there are fish in the sea how are just like you!"

The brunette boy scoffed and shook his head. "Total idiots?"

She smiled again, flashing her beautful teeth...not to mention the fangs...

Sora gasped. Aia was a vampire!? Ah, nobody told him anything anymore! It was like the whole world knew what he didn't. Ok, maybe not THAT, but at least Roxas. Couldn't he have a brother that didn't make his life so complicated?

"That's right, Sora! Vampire! That's me!" She threw her head back and giggled, then calming down and setting her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Jealousy's my blood preference. You know, like that Anju girl in _Karin_."

Sora blinked a few more times, trying to process what was happening.

Suddenly, Aia's eyes went wide. She clutched her red and black shirt tightly.

"Aia? What's wrong?" Sora asked, worried.

Aia stepped back for a second, trying to regain her balance. Then, she grinned slightly, letting out a small laugh as she did, as if to say "Woah, silly me!"

She stood up now, still clutching her shirt. "I-it's this heavy feeling...of jealousy." Her eyes flared with a certain spark. "And it's verrrrryyyy close by..."

Rapidly, almost with a mad look in her eyes, she turned her head to see the source of all the heavy feelings that were surrounding her. She flashed another grin at the seemingly paralyzed girl, then standing straight and stepping foward.

Sora looked over in the direction she was looking, then gasped. Nikki!?

"No!" he screeched, lunging foward and grasping Aia's arm desperatley. "Don't! Please!"

Aia only shook off his arm as if he was nothing more then a pesky mosquito. "Ooh, the jealousy, the jealousy! It's sweeter than ever! You're a little fountain of emotions, aren't you Nikki?"

Nikki, still immobolized with shock in fear, shook her head in disbelief. There was no _way _this was happening...

Aia...a vampire!? _What the hell's happening to the world?!_ she yelled to herself in her mind.

Sora, in the meantime, was trying to think of a way to get Nikki out of this situation. There was no way that he could try to stop Aia, she was stronger than him. He could make a run for Nikki, but wasn't sure that he'd make it to her in time...Aia could be faster, after all, she had kept all these other secrets about herself from him. There was only one way.

Desperatley, his voice breaking, he shouted out as loud as he could. "NIKKI! **RUN!**"

She could feel the beads of sweat dripping down her face, see the menacing grin on Aia's face, hear the fear in Sora's voice.

And she could definetly feel the fear in her heart.

The question now was...why couldn't she move?

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**Ha. Another cliffie to make life goooood xDDD**

**Anyway. Updates laters! Review, no flames!**


	17. Breakable: Day 5

**SQUEEEEE, I'm fourteen now! YAYYY! And I cut my hair! So basically, it looks like I described in the story, except for the highlights. Well, they're there but you can't see them as well.**

**I don't own the KH characters! Just me! YAY!!!!**

**

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There was no way in hell that this could be happening. Nikki stood paralyzed in fear as she tried to sort out the thoughts in her head. There was no WAY that Aia was...

_Move, dammit, move! _She screamed to herself in her mind. It wasn't working, though. Her feet remained glued to floor. All she could do was scream insanely, desperately into her mind to convince her feet to move away.

Aia was closer and closer still, and even under her speed, Nikki saw it as a huge blur...

Sora looked around frantically, trying to find something, _anything_, to help Nikki. His mind was racing with thoughts on top of thoughts, trying to grasp together words to stop the girl who was charging toward her now...but how? _How?_

Again, he tried to call out to her, desperately hoping she'd listen this time. "Nikki! Run! Run!" His voice was breaking, but he was still persistent.

This time, her legs responded to her, moving enough for her to stumble out of the way as Aia came dangerously close to her.

Aia flashed her eyes angrily at the other girl, then sending it all away and grinning once more. That grin, that damn grin was enough to make Nikki want to look away and hide.

"RUN!" the voice came again, Sora's, piercing through her ears and this time her feet obeyed once more. She stumbled forward and ran like hell.

Suddenly she stopped, knowing that Aia was still behind her. "SORA! WHAT ABOUT YOU?" she called out worriedly.

He shook his head and motioned for her to keep running. "Just go! I'll meet up with you later!"

Nikki didn't want to listen to him, but she didn't have a choice. Aia was gaining on her fast, and she had to keep moving unless she wanted to die.

Her feet pushed her forward, pedaling her down the path of the park and into the nearby trees. She ran blindly, flailing her arms around, trying to keep her balance and stay on track. Then again, when you don't know where you're going, can you really stay on track?

She didn't know where Aia was, but she knew that she was still somewhere behind her, she could just feel it. Her legs were throbbing with pain as she tried harder and harder to keep herself from stopping, but she didn't hesitate. She knew that if she stopped, she'd have to pay the price.

The trees around her, they were like a prison wall, caging her in. It was almost like they were mocking her, saying menacingly, "You can't escape, you _can't _escape!"

Suddenly, she found herself out of the park and in the streets. If Aia was still around, she wasn't sure, but she didn't dare stop to find out. She ran as quickly as she could, heading for the house, where she was almost certain she could be safe. Nikki didn't dare stop, not even to catch her breath, swerving through traffic to get to her destination.

All the time she ran, she was trying to blink away the tears, hoping that the memories would be wiped away as easily as the liquid flowing down her face. The fact that Aia was a vampire was what scared her pretty badly. There she had been a few days before, all happy and giggly with the girl, making fast friends with her. And now, here she was, running like hell to save her own life. What had happened?

And the kiss. _The kiss_. That had hit her the most, more than the impact any fangs could make upon biting her. She had thought that maybe Sora had some interest in her. Not even, she had thought that getting away from him would make her forget him. Just when she was finally letting her life fall into place, it was falling apart again, just like her heart.

Her house was now in view. Jamming her hand in her pocket, she fished out the keys and held the front door's key ready in her hand. Just as she reached the door and was ready to shove the key in the lock to get to her salvation-

"What's the rush, Nick?" Stephanie asked as she opened the front door, having seen her best friend from the window. Nikki, who hadn't stopped running, tripped and fell into the house, hitting her knee in the process. Still, she yanked Stephanie to the side and kicked the door shut, crawling on her knees to finally lock it, then collapsing on the floor.

"Nikki?" Stephanie questioned. "Are you okay?" She stared down at the brunette, who was trying to catch her breath, choking on tears and unspoken words. She shook her head, at a loss to speak.

Stephanie helped Nikki stand up and make her way over to a couch, leaning her on her shoulder and asking in a soothing, yet concerned voice, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Sobbing, the other girl tried to force out the words, tried to spill out her emotions to her very best friend. But nothing happened. Nothing came out of her mouth but violent sobs.

Stephanie seemed to understand, letting Nikki rest on her shoulder to cry.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Did you get rid of her?" Roxas asked as Aia stepped into the room.

Aia sat down on the couch next to the blonde boy, staring up at the ceiling in slight defeat. "Nah." She looked over at Roxas then, grinning a bit. "But I lip-locked with your brother, though. Good kisser."

Roxas didn't laugh. "Well, that's great and all I guess. So does he like you yet?"

"Doesn't seem like it. I think he's still after twinkle-toes." She slammed her fist on the couch. "Shit!"

Roxas looked away, trying to collect his thoughts. "It's fine. We'll get her. Meet me here, tomorrow."

Aia sighed, then nodded and stood up. "Tomorrow. Whatever."

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**So that's it for this chappie! Sorry if it's a little short! The next chapter will probably be the same, sorry to say. But don't worry, it'll get better, I promise!**

**No flames! **


	18. What We Have To Do: Day 6

**ANOTHER CHAPTER!!! YAYYY! **

**Sorry to tell you guys, this story's gonna be over soon! D: But hell, if ya really like my stuff, drop me an author alert, see if I write somethin' ya like ;)**

**And I have gotten comments on Roxas' attitude, that he's a little mean in this. I noticed that, too O.o I think it's just that before I played KH2 and I saw stuff on Roxas, I saw him as the emo kid whose anger management class may as well PISS HIM OFF xD But after I played...well he's not like that. But that image still sort of sticks with me. It sort of something that fits more with him or Riku, y'know?**

**Anyway, I should get on with this so you can get on to your reading.**

**I don't own KH or the characters! Just me! **

**No flames, please! **

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It was a little strange, waking up the next morning and not remembering what had happened the day before, at least for a few seconds. After the strong feelings of confusion passed, they were replaced with strong feelings of a sinking heart, one that might as well have popped out of her toes. She didn't know what to make of what had happened the day before with Aia and Sora, but then again, she wasn't sure she could make anything good of it. All that life seemed to bring her so far was hurt and pain. 

Dragging herself out of bed and downstairs, she saw that the girls had put out her breakfast for her. Stephanie and Brenda were waiting by her seat for her to sit down. Shannon was at the refrigerator, ready to open it at the very request.

Nikki smiled slightly as she sat down in her seat. "What are you guys up to?" she asked, her voice slightly hoarse from sleep.

"Nothing," Brenda said as she sat down in the seat next to her. "We're just trying to make you feel better."

Nikki looked up at her best friend to see Stephanie shrugging.

"I kinda told them about your...meltdown yesterday," Stephanie confessed. "I was a little worried about you."

Nikki smiled at her, then stuck out her tongue. "You ass, you'd better!"

Shannon laughed and sat down at the table with the other girls. "Are you okay, though? Honestly?"

_Honestly. _What a cruel word that was to Nikki. How many times had the meaning of the word actually been taken seriously to her, and then broken down in front of her eyes? Well, she did have to be _honest _with them, but under all _honesty_, she wasn't sure if she was okay or not.

"I don't know," she finally said softly, staring down at her breakfast. Suddenly, the beautiful meal that had been put in front of her became unappealing, probably due to the sour feeling that was forming in her stomach.

"It's okay," Stephanie assured her, putting her hand on the other's shoulder. "Look, how 'bout you just eat right now, and then we can get you ready for tomorrow?"

Nikki looked up at her b.f.f. with curious eyes. "Tomorrow?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Sit down," Roxas told Aia in a monotone voice as she walked inside.

She did as she was told, unaffected by the blonde's voice, having been used to it by now. She twiddled her thumbs with nothing better to do but watch the teenage boy pace around the room.

"So tomorrow. You're getting rid of her tomorrow, right?" Roxas asked her suddenly.

Aia twirled some of her hair around her finger, playing with a red highlight. "Ugh. Whatever. We'll just get it over with, right?"

Roxas turned to face her. "We HAVE to. There's no way my little brother's going to be with a human."

"Do you even like me?" Aia questioned, squinting her eyes. "I mean, do you really want me with Sora?"

Roxas paused, but didn't answer.

"Where is he, anyway?" the girl asked when the blonde didn't answer.

"Riku's house."

"Ah."

"So? Tomorrow?"

Aia sighed a heavy sigh. "What do you have against Nikki anyway? All aside the human thing, I've actually talked to her and I don't find her to be much of a bad person."

Roxas was quiet once more.

Letting the red highlight fall back into place with her hair, Aia stood up and walked off, opening the front door. "I think we're done here. I'm going now, okay?"

Roxas spoke up this time. "Don't for-"

"Yeah, yeah," she said as she closed the door. "Tomorrow at the carnival. I'll polish my fangs, your freakin' majesty."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I don't know what to do, Riku," Sora whined to his best friend.

Riku looked at Sora with a slight laugh. He was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. "Sora, you don't think the fact that you came to me crying like a baby and asking me for advice is a little gay?"

"Shut up!" Sora snapped, darting the other teen a death look. "You don't know, Riku, you don't. I have no idea what to do anymore!"

He pulled his hands into fists. "IT'S ALL ROXAS' FAULT!"

"Woah! Calm down, Sora!" Riku yelled out to his friend. "Look, tomorrow's the carnival, right?"

Sora blinked a few times. "Oh yeah. I forgot how many times they have carnivals during the summer."

"Right!" Riku told him. "Sooo, she's most likely gonna go, right?"

Sora nodded slowly, taking in Riku's idea. "Right..."

"So you're gonna find her and make it up to her that you love her!" Riku screeched, standing up and throwing up his arms.

Sora blinked, then stood up as well. "You're right, Riku! I'm going to tell her! And I'm not going to let anyone, not even my stupid brother, get in my way!" He smiled. "Thanks for the help. I'm gonna go home, okay?"

Riku nodded. "Good luck, Sora."

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**Mmm. Short chapter again. Delicious. xD Sorry about that. But don't worry, I absolutely promise, it'll get better. After all, didn't anybody notice what day we're up to? Yeah, that's right, day 6. So...**

**Review please! What do you think will happen? ;)**

**No flames!**


	19. No shame?: Day 7

**The year's almost over. So many things have changed...wow...well hopefully I'll start the new year happily (even if I don't have Alex by my side when it strikes midnight)**

**I don't own the KH characters, just meeeeeee! xD **

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"Nikki-chan, wake up! It's the day of the carnival!" Brenda shouted the next morning into her "twin"'s ear.

Nikki opened her eyes slowly, blinking a few times, then mumbling, "Oh yeah."

"Got a date?" a voice came from next to her.

The brunette turned around and saw Stephanie lying down in the bed, already dressed, looking at her like she did this every morning.

"What the fuck are you doing in my bed?" Nikki questioned.

"Asking if you have a date."

"Why? Are you asking me out?" Nikki inched away slowly.

"No, asshole," Stephanie sighed, rolling her eyes. "We can find one for you." She looked up at Brenda. "You think Riku has a date?"

"He's going with his girlfriend."

"...who?"

"Shannon."

"Oh...yeah."

"OK!" Nikki shouted. "Everybody out of my room so I can get dressed."

The other two girls got slinked out of the room as Nikki shut the door.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sora wasn't sure how, but opening his eyes he found himself sitting in a white room. _What the hell? Where am I? _he thought to himself.

As he looked around some more, he saw he was in the room with Naminè. She sat patiently on one of the chairs in the room, her hands folded over a drawing she had just finished and a gentle smile on her face.

"Sora," she said with a slight warning tone, her smile fading into seriousness. "Do you know what day today is?"

The brunette boy blinked. "Uhm, the day of the carnival?"

"Yes, and also...?"

He shook his head. "I don't know."

Naminè sat back in her chair. "It's the last day of the deal."

Realization smacked Sora like a bad hangover. _Shit! _"What?! Are you serious?"

The blonde pointed to the grave expression she had on her face. "Does this look like the face of a liar?"

Sora sat down in the chair across from the girl. "I totally forgot about that deal."

"Did you also forget that you were supposed to kiss Nikki and not Aia?"

Sora looked up, surprised. "Oh no! Does that mean-"

"No, no, the deal's still on. I'm just saying, be careful. You have until midnight, you know."

"I think she's mad at me."

Naminè chuckled. "She really liked you and you kissed another girl. How should she feel?"

He put his head down, upset. "Midnight, you say?"

"Yes."

Sora stood up. "Then I need to go get ready," he told her, heading for the door.

"Wait. Before you go, where's your brother?"

"Roxas? He's at home."

"Thank you, Sora. Good luck."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Roxas flipped through the channels on the television, trying to find something good to watch. He settled on Court TV, where they were showing a Forensic Files marathon. Eh, why not, there was nothing better to do.

"You have no shame, don't you?" a voice said from seemingly nowhere.

Roxas looked up and groaned at who it was. It was that damn girl, Naminè, the one Sora had made the deal with. "What do you want?" he hissed.

"What do you have against Nikki anyway?"

_Oh, she gets right to the point, doesn't she? _"...nothing."

Naminè chuckled softly. "Sure, Roxas. That's why you're going to so much trouble to hurt her."

Roxas focused his eyes back onto the television screen. It flickered off a second later. Naminè smiled.

"You know, you used to have feelings for her once before. Did you not want Sora to be with her because you still have feelings for her?"

"You're stupid."

"Or am I right?" she winked. "Either way, you've both moved on. Can't you see how much she loves Sora? Don't you want Sora to be happy?"

"She's not a vampire," Roxas interjected. "It would never work out."

"Is she a bad girl?"

Roxas was silent.

"Just try to leave them alone tonight. For love's sake."

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**Another short chappie! OMG! xD Sorry about that. Anyway, the next chapter will be the last! -DUN DUN DUNNNN!-**

**No flames, please!**


	20. The Beat of My Heart: The End

**Omg! It's the last day of the year! And the last chapter! -Cries- Awwww! T.T **

**Anyway, here we go...I hope you guys like it! Please review & no flames!**

**I don't own KH, just meeee! **

**I guess I'll be seeing you guys next year:) HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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The lights of the carnival flashed around Nikki and her friends as they walked through the entrance. Rides were running, screams of joy in the air. Games were heard around them, bells dinging, and squeals of children who won prizes. The smell of hotdogs, popcorn, hamburgers, corndogs and all the other things that could make your stomach turn after a ride were heavy in the air around them.

Nikki stood wearing a light pink shirt with the words "Je T'aime" on it (French for "I love you") and black jeans. A pink heart necklace she had picked up at Claire's hung around her neck, glimmering among all the lights.

"I need food." The words that came out of Stephanie's mouth didn't surprise Nikki, as the girl was always hungry.

"Wanna grab something to eat, then?" Brenda questioned.

"Hell yeah!" Stephanie said, walking with Brenda to get a hamburger.

Nikki looked around to find Shannon, but she had walked off to play a game, her eyes glued to the stuffed prize. Nikki shrugged and decided to walk around a bit. It was late in the afternoon. She decided to get on a rollercoaster, dragging Stephanie along with her, who was stuffing the last of the burger in her mouth.

"Aren't you a little freaked by roller coasters?" Stephanie asked, bits of food flying out of her mouth.

_Whatever gets my mind off of Sora_, Nikki thought to herself.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Aia strolled around the park, looking around for Sora. If she could just distract him until midnight, then the deal would be off, and Sora would be all hers. the fact that there was going to be fireworks that night would be even better, even more romantic. She just couldn't wait...

But first, of course, she had to get rid of Nikki. Now where was that girl, anyway?

It was getting later. It was around sunset right now. Maybe she could kiss Sora now, it'd still be romantic. And if the kiss was right, he'd forget all about Nikki and they wouldn't even have to wait until midnight.

Besides, Aia was getting a little hungry, and she could have used a nice bit of jealousy.

Finally, she saw the brunette girl walking around with Stephanie. Stephanie had a corndog in her hands, and she could hear her saying to Nikki, "Try it! I know you'll like it!"

Ah, perfect.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Nikki sighed once more and shoved the ABC'd corndog out of her face. "Steph, I don't want to try it."

"You said you've always wanted to try it."

"Not now. I don't feel too good."

"Oh," Stephanie said, throwing the half-eaten treat into a garbage and turning to her best friend. "Are you alright, should we take you home?"

Nikki shook her head. She didn't want to ruin the fun for her friends just because she was still feeling post-Sora depression. "No, it's fine. I'm just-"

She froze, her heart stopping as it was. Looking over Stephanie's shoulder, she could see her, someone else, standing a few feet away, arms folded across her chest, grinning.

Aia.

"What? What's wrong?" Stephanie questioned, seeing the look on the brutnette's face.

"WELL! Nikki! Didn't expect to find you here!" Aia's voice came ripping through Nikki's ears. "I was looking for Sora. You seen 'im?"

Nikki, still paralyzed with a certain fear, shook her head.

"That's too bad." She giggled, stepping closer. "I was hoping for another kiss from him," she said slyly, tracing the spot on her lips with her finger.

"A WHAT?!" Stephanie shouted, stepping away from Nikki and closer to Aia. "You did WHAT?"

"Oh relax," Aia laughed. "It was just a kiss. No harm done, right?"

Stephanie's face went red, her hands going on her hips to prevent herself from slapping Aia across the face. "You mean to tell me that YOU were the reason that this girl was crying all night? YOU DID THAT!?"

Aia laughed to herself a little more. "All night? I did better than I thought, I guess."

_She's really frustrating, _Aia thought to herself. _If she doesn't get out of the way, I can't bite Nikki. I could just as easily get rid of Stephanie, but there's no jealousy coming from her. Ah, damn._

"You-" Stephanie raised her hand to strike Aia.

It happened in an instant, with a small "Uh-uh-uh, no you don't!" from Aia.

Aia's hand flew across Stephanie's face, making a loud SLAP! noise. The next second, a hand flew up and grabbed Aia by the wrist, a little too late for Stephanie, though.

She blinked, confused at what had just happened. She looked up to see Roxas standing there, anger and determination printed across his forehead.

"Don't," he murmered close to her ear. She could hear the anger in his voice as he said it.

"Why should I stop?" she snapped back at him. "You're the one who wanted me to do this. You're the one who wanted ot me to get rid of her! Look at you now! Are going insane!?"

Roxas gritted his teeth. "I don't want you to hurt her. I want you to leave her alone."

Aia put her free hand on her hip. "Oh, I see. You don't want to hurt your ex-girlfriend, huh?"

Nikki's eyes went wide. "Ex-girlfriend!?"

Aia turned to her. "Yeah. He probably erased your memory so you won't remember. But you two went out for some time, I've heard. Quite the lovebirds, I heard."

"Enough, Aia," Roxas said.

"But then one day you saw him bite someone," she continued with her taunting voice. "And you couldn't take it. So he erased your memory. And now I think he wants you ba-"

"SHUT UP!" Roxas shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders and bringing her face close to his. "I want you to stop it! It's not for me, it's for Sora! I know how happy he is with her, I've seen how they are together! So I think they should stay together. Vampire or not, Sora loves her, and I won't let you stop them!!!"

Nikki blinked again, feeling water coming to her eyes. _Love? He loves me?_

Holding Aia back, Roxas turned to Nikki. "I'll take care of her. I want you to seal that deal."

Nikki nodded.

"Now! Go!"

Grabbing Stephanie's hand (who was giving Aia the death look), she ran off into the crowds in search of the blue-eyed vampire who swept her heart away.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Sora, you've got to go to her," Riku was telling his best friend, who was sitting on his bed, looking stressed out.

"I can't figure out how to face her!" Sora admitted, pulling at his hair.

"You're strong, you're brave, you can do it!" Riku told him.

"Dude, are you confessing your love to me?" Sora asked Riku, looking up.

Riku rolled his eyes. "No. But how do you feel about her?"

"I love her."

"So tell her."

"How?!"

"Does it matter?" Riku asked, shaking Sora's shoulders. "Just the fact that you CAN tell her, that's good enough!"

Sora groaned in frustration. "Ugh...fine...I'll try."

"You'd better. It's been hours and-"

"Hours?! Shit, Riku! What time is it?!"

Riku looked at the clock. "Uhm, it's 11:47, why?"

"Dammit!" Sora shouted, getting up. "I gotta go! See you!" he shouted as he bolted out the door.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"It's been hours, Nick," Stephanie told her best friend as they searched the park for the billionth time. "He's not here. Let's just sit down, or maybe get something else to eat..."

Nikki sighed dejectedly. _I guess there's nothing I can do now but enjoy myself. _She glanced at her watch. It was 11:55. She might as well have fun for now.

"NIKKI!"

Sora's voice rang in her ear as his hands wrapped around her.

Surprised, Nikki stepped back a bit, which did nothing since Sora still held her tight. "W-what's going on?"

"I'm sorry!" he shouted, holding her closer. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He let go and glanced at Stephanie. "C-can we go on the ferris wheel?"

"Uhm...s-"

"Thanks!" Sora said, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her onto the ride.

Nikki was confused as the ride went up, but was sort of still happy that she was here with Sora. They had a perfect view of the night sky.

"It's beautiful," she commented.

"Yeah," Sora agreed, scooting closer to her.

"And, hey, it's almost midnight, so we get to see the fireworks from he-"

"Listen, Nikki," Sora interrupted. "I don't have much time but I want you to listen to me."

She turned to him. "Uhm, okay."

Sora took a deep breath, then finally let it out. "Ever since I saw you, you-you took my heart away. I couldn't breathe around you, I wasn't sure what to do around you, I was a wreck. And spending my nights thinking about you made me realize that..."

He paused to a second to glance at his watch. 11:59.

"I love you."

Nikki smiled softly, wrapping her arms around his neck, the starts behind him twinkling brightly. "Sora...I love you, too. I don't care if you're a vampire, I love you."

It was almost like magic, the way their lips met. Nikki felt her heart sink and leap all at once, until it finally seemed to melt right into the kiss. She never felt so happy.

Sora's watch beeped a few seconds later. 12:00. Midnight, mid-kiss.

"Congrats, Sora," Naminè's voice interuppted.

"Ah!" Sora shrieked, breaking the kiss and jumping. "How did you-...you know what nevermind."

"You love her, I can see that," she commented with a soft smile. "And you kissed her. It's only fair. Close your eyes."

Smiling, Sora did as he was told. He could suddenly feel this cold chill come over him, and something suddenly felt a little...off with him mouth. Opening his eyes once more, he noticed things were different.

The smell of unhappiness that had been in the air, that had led him to Nikki was gone. No more chest-pounding feelings (other than the one he was having from being so close to Nikki), and after sliding his tounge around his mouth, he couldn't feel the fangs.

"Human...I'm human!" Sora screeched. "Thank you, Naminè!" he shouted. But she was gone now.

"You did this all for me?" Nikki asked as the ferris wheel stopped at the top.

"How could I not have?" he asked her, smiling.

She smiled as well, kissing him again.

This time a loud popping was heard, but they didn't stop. It was only the fireworks.

Down below, people clapped for the fireworks and all of the amazing colors that were lighting the sky. But Nikki and Sora knew that Roxas, Brenda, Shannon and Stephanie were clapping for what was happening below the lights.

Nikki broke the kiss and rested her head on Sora's chest.

"What do you hear?" he asked softly.

She smiled, holding his hand. "The beat of your heart."

**The end.**


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